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James Fergusson, Illustrations of Rock-Cut Temples of India: Selected from the best examples of the different series of caves at Ellora, Ajunta, Cuttack, Salsette, Karli, and Mahavellipore. Drawn on stone by Mr T C Dibdin, from sketches carefully made on the spot, with the assistance of the Camera-Lucida in the years 1838-39, by James Fergusson, Esq., London: John Weale, 1845

1 later hand-coloured lithographed frontispiece and 18 later hand-coloured lithograph plates; two plates with two scenes, after Fergusson by T C Dibdin. All plates are captioned as 'From A Sketch by Jas. Fergusson Esqr.' (except the title plate and plate XI) and signed as drawn and lithographed by T C Dibdin and printed by M and N Hanhart. Each numbered plate carries the publisher's imprint of John Weale - except plates 6, 8, and 15. The work is dedicated by James Fergusson "To the President and Fellows of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland"; rebound in modern full brown leather, sympathetically tooled in blind and gilt with a red morocco title panel and raised bands to the spine; marbled endpapers replaced with modern plain cream paper.
21.75 x 15 x 0.5 in (55.5 x 38 x 1.5 cm)

LIST OF PLATES
1. Ajunta: General View of Caves, 1844 / 2. Cuttack: Exterior of a Vihara on the Udyagiri Hill/ 3. Verandah of the Ganesa Gumpha, [Cuttack] / 4. Ajunta: Interior of Chaitya Cave No. 10 / 5. Ajunta: Interior of Vihara, No. 17 / 6. Ajunta: Interior of Vihara, No. 16 / 7. Ajunta: Exterior of Chaitya Cave No. 19 / 8. Ajunta: Interior of Chaitya Cave No. 19 / 9. Ajunta: Vihara Cave No. 7 / 10. Ajunta: Verandah of Vihara No. 2 / 11. Karli: Entrance of Great Chaitya Cave / 12. Karli: Pillars in Great Chaitya Cave / 13. Kannari: Pillars in Great Chaitya Cave / 14. Kannari: Exterior of Great Chaitya Cave / 15. Kannari: View of Durbar Cave / 16. Kannari: Interior of Small Vihara / 17. Ellora: Kylas / 18. Ellora: Interior of Lanka / 19. Mahavellipore: Cave with Structural Vimana / 20. Mahavellipore: The Five Raths / 21. Cuttack: Khandagiri Hill [Frontispiece]

SKETCHING THE SACRED IN STONE: FERGUSSON’S 1845 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ROCK-CUT TEMPLES OF INDIA, EXECUTED WITH THE CAMERA LUCIDA

Published in 1845, Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India marks the debut of James Fergusson’s architectural career and is now widely recognised as one of the most significant early visual surveys of Indian temple architecture undertaken by a European scholar. It is a work that not only captures a pivotal moment in nineteenth-century antiquarianism and colonial archaeology but also reflects an evolving British engagement with the cultural legacy of the Indian subcontinent.

At the time of this publication, Indian cave-temples—particularly those at Ajanta, Ellora, Karli, and Mahabalipuram—were just beginning to attract serious scholarly interest. Fergusson, who had initially travelled to India as an indigo planter, soon abandoned commerce to devote himself entirely to the architectural documentation of India’s built heritage. Travelling across western and southern India in 1838–1839, he sketched many of these monuments on site, employing a camera lucida—a relatively novel optical aid for that period—to maintain fidelity in architectural proportions and detail.

Fergusson’s use of the camera lucida placed him at the forefront of empirically grounded architectural documentation. At a time when photography had not yet become widespread in India, this optical device enabled him to achieve a higher degree of accuracy in linear perspective and spatial proportions than his artistic contemporaries who relied solely on freehand drawing. His application of this tool lent an unprecedented level of objectivity and structural truth to his visual records.

These field drawings were later refined and transformed into lithographs by the accomplished British artist and lithographer Thomas Colman Dibdin, whose ability to translate Fergusson’s topographical rigour into a visually engaging format is one of the triumphs of the atlas volume. The folio atlas includes eighteen lithographic plates, some of which are tinted, and several present dual images on a single sheet. The views range from panoramic depictions of the temple facades to detailed renderings of column capitals, interior sanctums, friezes, and sculptural groups.

Fergusson’s Illustrations… predates the more widely known photographic surveys of these monuments undertaken by later figures such as Robert Gill and Linnaeus Tripe. As such, it stands as a pioneering and unique pre-photographic visualisation of sacred Indian architecture, produced during a transitional moment when architectural documentation was shifting from hand-drawn to photographic methods. This volume captures the visual and scholarly ethos of a period that still relied on the skilled draughtsman to mediate between monument and manuscript.

The accompanying octavo text volume offers descriptive commentaries on the various architectural sites, with early hypotheses on their chronology, patronage, religious affiliations, and stylistic relationships. Fergusson’s attempt to categorise and analyse Indian temple architecture within a coherent historical framework was without precedent in Western scholarship at the time and laid the groundwork for his later, more comprehensive volumes, including A History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1876).

Beyond its academic importance, the publication is also notable for its role in shaping Victorian visual culture and public perceptions of India. As Britain deepened its colonial engagement with the subcontinent, works like Fergusson’s became instrumental in introducing Indian art and architecture to a European audience and served to legitimise the antiquarian and archaeological ambitions of the British in India.

The separately issued text pamphlet titled Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India. Text to Accompany the Folio Volume of Plates (London: John Weale, 1845) has been skilfully mounted in 2 parts (pp. 1-16 and 17-63) and bound into the folio volume immediately following the main title page. The pamphlet is affixed along the inner margin onto a large folio leaf with folded guards, allowing the original text to remain intact and accessible. The discreet reinforcement along the spine and gutter with cloth backing ensures preservation while maintaining visual harmony with the larger volume. This careful integration not only secures the often-lost textual component but also provides a rare example of the text and plates being unified in a single presentation.

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