True Principles of Beauty in Art, more especially with reference to Architecture,’ 8vo, London, a work which he himself described at the close of his days as his best, but of which he at the same time averred he had only sold four copies. He gave many away, however, and the book is now extremely rare. It contains the earliest exposition of many of his favourite theories, particularly that regarding the mode in which the ancient Greek temples were lighted by means of a triple roof and clerestory. The preface contains some interesting references to his education and early life, and announces the diversion of his attention to a new study. The main feature of his ‘Proposed New System of Fortification,’ published also in 1849, was the substitution of earthworks for masonry, and although derided at the time has now been universally adopted. The subject was followed up by Fergusson in two pamphlets, one entitled ‘The Perils of Portsmouth, or French Fleets and English Forts,’ London, 8vo, 1852 (3rd ed. in 1853), and a sequel entitled ‘Portsmouth Protected … with Notes on Sebastopol and other Sieges during the Present War,’ London, 8vo, 1856. Most of his suggestions were appropriated without acknowledgment, but they led to his appointment in 1857 as a member of the royal commission to inquire into the defences of the United Kingdom. Having been, along with Sir A. H. Layard, the adviser of the Crystal Palace Company in regard to the erection of the Assyrian house, afterwards destroyed by fire, he accepted early in 1856 the post of general manager of the company, which he occupied till the middle of 1858. In 1847 Fergusson had published ‘An Essay on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem.’ His views are shortly stated in two remarkable articles contributed to Dr. W. Smith's ‘Dictionary of the Bible’ (vols. i. and ii.) The book attracted no notice at the time; but his contention that the ‘Mosque of Omer’ is the identical church erected by Constantine the Great over the tomb of our Saviour at Jerusalem, and that it, and not the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the true burial-place of Jesus, afterwards gave rise to an important controversy. It is to his strenuous advocacy of this theory that the Palestine Exploration Fund is said to owe its origin. In 1860 he succeeded in arousing widespread interest in the subject by his ‘Notes on the Site of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,’ a pamphlet in which he confidently repeated his contention in reply to an article on ‘The Churches of the Holy Land’ which had shortly before appeared in the ‘Edinburgh Review.’ An accurate survey of the Holy City was thereafter carried out by Captain (afterwards Colonel Sir) C. W. Wilson, R.E., at the cost of Baroness (then Miss) Burdett Coutts. The first large map of the Haram area at Jerusalem was prepared at Fergusson's own cost, and he was also ready to bear the expense of excavations, which were not permitted by the sultan. He pursued his inquiries, however, with undiminished energy, and in 1878 developed them still more fully in a large quarto volume on ‘The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem,’ fully illustrated with plates and woodcuts.
In 1855 Fergusson published ‘The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture, being a Concise and Popular Account of the different Styles of Architecture prevailing in all Ages and Countries,’ 2 vols. It was followed in 1862 by one entitled ‘A History of the Modern Styles of Architecture, being a sequel to the “Handbook of Architecture.”’ Both were recast and published during 1865–7 in three volumes, entitled ‘A History of Architecture in all Countries from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.’ This is the work upon which Fergusson's fame must chiefly rest. It is the first and probably the only one of his many publications from which he received pecuniary profit. In its early form it was at once recognised as a useful manual for the student, and the accuracy of its information and the excellent illustrations render it a standard work. In 1876 he published a fourth volume on ‘The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture.’ In 1867 he was engaged in arranging the collection of photographs and casts for exhibition in the Indian Court of the International Exhibition held that year in Paris, and in the course of his labours came upon a collection of marbles which had been excavated in 1845 from the Amravati Tope in Gantûr, and intended for the Indian Museum, but had been deposited in a disused coachhouse and forgotten. Photographs of them were arranged in the British exhibit, and the knowledge of ancient Indian art and mythology obtained by poring over these photographs suggested a very valuable paper read by him in 1868 to the Royal Asiatic Society on the Amravati Tope, and led also to the preparation by him, under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council, of the large and valuable work entitled ‘Fire and Serpent Worship; or Illustrations of Mythology and Art in India in the First and Fourth Centuries after Christ, from the Sculptures of the Buddhist Topes at Sanchi and Amravati,’ which was published by the India office in the same year. Fergusson's reputation enabled his friends to succeed in creating a
