Robert William Billings
architect, author, and descriptive draughtsman; b. 1813; d. 1874.
He was a pupil of James Britton. His chief published works are a History and Description of S. Paul's Cathedral, Churches of London, Illustration of the Temple Church in London, Carlisle Cathedral, and Durham Cathedral, quarto volumes, published in 1840-1843, and espectially the Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, in four volumes. The accuracy of his drawings has never been seriously impunged, and their intelligibility and beauty are remarkable. They are far more valuable to the student than those of his master, Britton.
Friedrich Bürklein
architect; b. March 1, 1813; d. December 4, 1872.
Burklein came to Munich (Bavaria), about 1828, and entered the atelier of Gärtner. He held the offices of Bauconstructeur Regierungs-inspector and Professor in the Polytechnische Schule in Munich. He went with Gärtner to Greece, and assisted him in the construction of the royal palace at Athens. He assisted King Maximilian II (b. 1811; d. 1864) in his development of the city of Munich. Burklein's chief work was the laying out of the Maximilianstrasse and construction of the Maximilianeum. He worked in a style peculiar to himself (Neuer Baustil), a combination of Romanesque and Renaissance.
Pedro Ciprés
architect.
According to a document of the cathedral of Gerona (Spain) Ciprés succeeded in 1840 the French architect Vautier as director of the works of that cathedral.
General Sir Alexander Cunningham
archaeologist; b. 1814; d. Novomber 28, 1893.
In 1831 he entered the service of the East India Company, and from 1840 to 1860 held the important office of constructor of public works in the Indian army. He won special distinction in the Sikh campaign of 1846. In 1858 he was appointed chief engineer of the northwest provinces. In 1846-1847 he published The Temples of Kashmir and Ladakh, Physical, Statistical, Historical. In 1861 Cunningham was intrusted by the viceroy with the Archaeological Survey of India, and continued that work until his retirement in 1885. In 1871 he published Ancient Geography of India, and in 1892 his work on Gaya.
James Fergusson, D. C. L., F. R. S.
writer on architecture; b. 1808 at Ayr, Scotland; d. 1886.
James Fergusson was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and entered the firm of Fairlie, Fergusson and Company at Calcutta, India. He retired from business later, and devoted himself to archæological study. In 1840 he was elected member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of which, at his death, he was a vice president. In 1857 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission to inquire into the defences of the United Kingdom. He published The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture (2 vols. 8vo, 1855). This book was revised and published under the title, A History of Architecture in all Countries from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (4 vols. 8vo, 1865-1876). In 1878 he published The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram, Area at Jerusalem. The History of the Modern Styles of Architecture appeared in 1862, and a separate History of Eastern and Indian Architecture in 1876. In 1869 Fergusson was appointed secretary to Austin Henry Layard, commissioner of public works, and later inspector of public buildings and monuments. In 1871 he won the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was an active member of several commissions for the decoration of S. Paul's cathedral.
Eugène Emanuel Viollet-le-Duc
architect and archaeologist; b. January 21, 1814; d. September 17, 1879 (at Lausanne, Switzerland).
He was educated at the Collège Bourbon (Paris) and in the atelier of Achille Leclère. At the suggestion of his father, who was employed in the conservation of public buildings, he made a journey through France, studying and sketching the monuments. he traveled through Italy in the same way. Returning to France, in 1840, he undertook the restoration of the abbey church of Vézelay (Yonne, France) and the church of S. Père-Sous-Vézelay. About this time he restored the Hôtel de Ville at Narbonne (Aude, France), and was appointed auditor of the Council des bâtiments civils. He was associated with Lassus, in the restoration of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. In 1842 Lassus and Violette-le-Duc were commissioned to superintend the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame (Paris). At the death of Lassus, in 1857, Violette-le-Duc retained sole charge of that work, and designed the central spire and great altar, as well as the new sacristy and treasury adjoining the south flank. In 1846 he begun the restoration of the abbey church of S. Denis, near Paris, and had charge of that building until his death. From 1849 to 1874 he was architect of the diocesan buildings of Reims and Amiens. In 1852 he took charge of the restoration of the cité of Carcassonne (France), with the ancient fortifications, and in 1853 was appointed inspector géneral des édifices diocéains. In 1858 he begun the reconstruction of the château of Pierrefonds (Oise, France). In 1862 he restored the church of S. Sernin, at Toulouse, and in 1863 the château of Coucy.
In 1863 he was appointed professor of aesthetics at the École des Beaux Arts (Paris). As his lectures were not in arrangement with the traditions of the school, the students refused to listen to him. He resigned his position the following year, and published the material which he had prepared as the Entretiens sur l'Architecture. In 1873 he begun the restoration of the cathedral of Lausanne (Switzerland), and built the fine spire of that church. Violette-le-Duc restored many less important monuments, and erected many new buildings through France. Among his many publications, the most important are L'Art Russe: Les Origines, etc. (Paris, 1877 1 vol. 4to); Comment on construit une maison (4th ed., Paris, 1883, 1 vol. 12mo); Description et histoire du château de Pierrefonds (8th ed., Paris, 1876, 1 vol. 8vo), Dictionnaire raisonné du l'Architecture français (Paris, 1854-1868, 10 vols. 8to); Dictionnaire raisonné du Mobilier français (Paris, 1858-1875, 6 vols. 4to); Entretiens sur l'Architecture (Paris, 1863-1872, 2 vols. 8vo and atlas), Essai sur l'Architecture Militaire au Moyen Âge (Paris, 1854, 1 vol. 4to); Habitations modernes (Paris, 1875-1877, 2 vols. folio); Histoire d'un Hôtel de Ville et d'une Cathedrale (Paris, 1878, 1 vol. 8vo), Histoire d'un forteresse (Paris, 1870, 1 vol. folio), and with Lassus, Monographie de Notre Dame (Paris, no date, 1 vol. folio).
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Semper builds the Synagogue in Dresden (1838-1840).
Semper builds the Hoftheater in Dresden (1838-1841).
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