Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

The author of this comprehensive history was the first Louisiana historian to document his studies through research in the national archives of France and Spain. Originally published in 1854, this volume tells of the French in Louisiana. The impact felt by this French influence is still evident today in such areas as architecture, religion, and cuisine. As thorough as it is, this volume tells only the beginning of the story of France's influence of Louisiana, beginning with the first exploration of the Louisiana territory and extending well into the eighteenth century. The fascinating account of the French in Louisiana is completed in Volume II. While reading, one can also enjoy maps of Louisiana as it was during the time discussed.

In the early years of the nineteenth century, the burgeoning cultural pride of white Creoles in New Orleans intersected with America's golden age of print, to explosive effect. Imagining the Creole City reveals the profusion of literary output -- histories and novels, poetry and plays -- that white Creoles used to imagine themselves as a unified community of writers and readers. Rien Fertel argues that Charles Gayarré's English-language histories of Louisiana, which emphasized the state's dual connection to America and to France, provided the foundation of a white Creole print culture predicated on Louisiana's exceptionalism. The writings of authors like Grace King, Adrien Rouquette, and Alfred Mercier consciously fostered an image of Louisiana as a particular social space, and of themselves as the true inheritors of its history and culture. In turn, the forging of this white Creole identity created a close-knit community of cosmopolitan Creole elites, who reviewed each other's books, attended the same salons, crusaded against the popular fiction of George Washington Cable, and worked together to preserve the French language in local and state governmental institutions. Together they reimagined the definition of "Creole" and used it as a marker of status and power. By the end of this group's era of cultural prominence, Creole exceptionalism had become a cornerstone in the myth of Louisiana in general and of New Orleans in particular. In defining themselves, the authors in the white Creole print community also fashioned a literary identity that resonates even today.