Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of the Baroness De Pontalba PDF
Preview Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of the Baroness De Pontalba
Intimate Enemies This page intentionally left blank Intimate Enemies THE TWO WORLDS OF THE Baroness de Pontalba CHRISTINA VELLA LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Eaton Rouge Published by Louisiana State University Press Copyright © 1997 by Christina Vella All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Louisiana Paperback Edition, 2004 Fifth printing, 2011 Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to publish excerpts from unpublished materi- als in the following collections: Manuscripts, Louisiana Historical Center; Louisiana Supreme Court Records, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans; Special Collection, Howard- Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University; Louisiana Division, New Orleans Public Library; Archives du Maréchal Ney, Archives Nationales, Paris. The author also wishes to thank Count Adrien Balny d'Avricourt for permission to quote from a letter of Blanche de Pontalba to her son Henri, in the collection of Andre Maricourt. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vella, Christina, 1942,- Intimate enemies: the two worlds of the Baroness de Pontalba / Christina Vella. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-0-8071-2962-3 (pbk.) i. Pontalba, Micaëla Leonarda Almonester de, baroness, 1795-1874. 2. Women—Louisiana—New Orleans—Biography. 3. Nobility— Louisiana—New Orleans—Biography. 4. New Orleans (La.)— Biography. 5. Historic buildings—Louisiana—New Orleans. 6. Paris (France)—Biography. 7. Historic buildings—France—Paris. I. Title. F379.N553P668 1997 976.3'3505'092'—den [B] 96-52688 CIP The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for the Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. © To Wendy, Peter Pan, and Tink with all my love This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments / xi Introduction / i I New Orleans in 1795 / 6 II Almonester / 40 III Pontalba / 70 IV The Widow / 99 V Mont-1'Évêque / 112 VI We All Live Here / 135 VII A Separation of Body and Belongings / 199 VIII Home Alone / 222 IX New Orleans in 1850 / 254 X Building / 277 XI The War Is Over / 301 New Orleans Street Names: Family, Friends, and Intimate Enemies of the Baroness de Pontalba / 347 Notes / 353 Bibliography / 401 Index / 415 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations following page 172 Andrés Almonester in 1797, in a painting by Salazar "Portrait of my mother," by Gaston de Pontalba Célestin Delfau de Pontalba Joseph Xavier Delfau de Pontalba, Micaela's father-in-law Célestin, ca. 1830 Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, ca. 1825 Chateau Mont-l'Évêque, just outside Senlis, where Micaela lived with her husband and his parents The commune of Mont-1'Évêque with the gate to the Pontalba château The Little Chateau where Micaela was confined in 1832 Micaela, ca,. 1840, when she was about forty-five Letter from Micaela to her cousin in 1835, after the shooting and the first trial Visconti's Hôtel Pontalba as it looked when Micaela lived in it with her sons The U.S. Embassy residence in Paris, formerly the Hotel Pontalba "The Architect Visconti Presents his Plans for the New Louvre to the Sovereigns," by Ange Tissier Chinese lacquer panels installed in the Hotel Pontalba The Louis Seize room of the U.S. Embassy residence Micaela's son, Célestin, ca. 1836
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