author
James Fergusson
1808–1886
Best known for opening Victorian readers’ eyes to the architecture of India and the wider world, this Scottish writer brought a global perspective to architectural history. His books helped turn buildings and monuments into a vivid, comparative story of human culture.
6 Audiobooks
A History of Architecture in All Countries, Volume 2, 3rd ed. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
by James Fergusson
A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volumes 1 and 2, 3rd ed. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
by James Fergusson
A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volume 1, 3rd ed. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
by James Fergusson
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture
by James Fergusson
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Restored in Conformity With the Recently Discovered Remains
by James Fergusson
Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and Uses
by James Fergusson
About the author
Born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1808, James Fergusson began his working life in business rather than as a formally trained architect. Time spent in India sparked his fascination with historic buildings there, and that interest shaped the work he became famous for: writing about architecture in a broad, comparative way.
Fergusson went on to become one of the 19th century’s best-known architectural historians. He is especially remembered for his studies of Indian architecture and antiquities, and for major books including The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture and the later History of Architecture. His writing aimed to explain how different building traditions related to one another across countries and centuries.
He died in London in 1886. Today, he is often remembered as an important early interpreter of world architecture for English-language readers, particularly for helping bring serious attention to the monuments of South Asia.