A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volume 1, 3rd ed.: From the Earliest Times to the Present DayFergusson, James
History
A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volume 1, 3rd ed.: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Fergusson, James
Architecture -- History
In the Book on the Byzantine style, some of the examples in Jerusalem
ascribed to Constantine have been transferred to Justinian’s time; but
this has naturally followed another very important change—the
description of the so-called Mosque of Omar, the Dome of the Rock, has
been transferred to the Saracenic style. It is well known that Mr.
Fergusson had few supporters in his theories respecting the builders of
this structure, and Prof. Hayter Lewis’s work has now removed all doubt
as to its having been the work of the Caliph Abd el Melik and his
followers. This change has necessitated a complete revision of the
description of the Holy Sepulchre, for which Prof. Willis’s and Prof.
Hayter Lewis’s works have furnished the chief authorities.
Various corrections have been made in the dates ascribed to the Mosques
in Cairo, and the French Expedition in Tunis has enabled the editor to
add a plan and view of the great Mosque of Kerouan, the most sacred
Mahomedan edifice after that of Mecca, and the one great early example
of which scarcely anything was known.
About forty woodcuts have been specially prepared for this new edition,
half of which are of subjects not before illustrated, the remainder
replacing those which were defective or absolutely incorrect. In
addition to these, various alterations where required have been made to
other woodcuts.
The several authorities consulted have been acknowledged in the course
of the work, but the editor desires here to express his obligations to
Mr. Fitzroy Doll, Mr. G. H. Birch, and Mr. Arthur Hill for advice on the
German, English, and Irish sections respectively.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
During the period that has elapsed since the first edition of this work
was published,[1] no important work on the History of Architecture has
appeared which throws any new light on either the theory or practice of
the art, and, except in India, no new buildings have been discovered and
no monographs published that materially add to our general stores of
knowledge.
The truth of the matter appears to be that the architectural productions
of all the countries mentioned in these two volumes have been examined
and described to a sufficient extent for the purposes of the general
historian. A great deal of course remains to be done before all the
information required for the student of any particular style can be
supplied, but nothing of any great importance probably remains to be
discovered in the countries of the Old World, nor anything that is at
all likely to alter any views or theories founded on what we at present
know.
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