The Plan Book Drawings of the New Orleans Notarial Archives: Legal Background and Artistic Development.

The Gallic custom of the notarial system survives to the present in the Notarial Archives of New Orleans. The 'Plan Book' drawings dating from 1803 to 1918 are a collection of watercolor plans by civil engineers, architects, anti artists prepared for legal notice. For historians, these illustrations document building types, landscaping, and topography. The artists who developed the style of presentation developed a unique genre in that city.