Ghosts Along the Mississippi: The Magic of the Old Houses of Louisiana by John Clarence Laughlin
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his book contains one hundred superb photographs by the author, but it is more than just a collection of beautiful pictures. It is a vivid history, in a word and picture, of the rise and fall of Louisiana plantation culture, and the resultant manifestations in the architectural forms of the region. Perhaps most important of all, it reaffirms the fact that true beauty cannot die; that, in Louisiana, it can live even amid the great ruined houses, as well as among those which have been restored.
Mr. Laughlin does not claim that the plantation structures were inherently original. Rather, in his prologue, he acknowledges certain derivations of style from French and classic forms. He then carefully traces the causes and effects of the modification, adaptation, and refinement of these forms until an architecture peculiar to Louisiana was established. He shows how climate and indigenous building material as well as the builders themselves played a part in this evolution; so that, for the first time in nineteenth-century America, certain houses appeared in the lower, Mississippi valley whose design actually grew out of the nature of the materials used - plastered brick and cypress wood. Since one of the fundamental concerns of the modern architect is design in terms of the innate character of materials, certain Louisiana plantation houses may be considered to be important nature roots of modern architecture. This should give the houses meaning even to those not greatly concerned with romantic legend or antiquarian research.
The plates are accompanied by facing texts containing factual data, along with the author's comments. the imaginative scope of the photographs and the often poetic nature of the text leave an indelible impression of the grandeur and graciousness that were embodied in these beautiful houses. There is also a poignant melancholy and nostalgia that accompany the passing of an era. Here is one of the most important of the regional sources of our American architectural heritage presented in a book which is probably the first in which the imaginative and technical resources of modern photograph are used to convey the poetry and mystery of old houses.
