''A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method'' is a book about
history of architecture
The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...
Banister Fletcher
Sir Banister Flight Fletcher (15 February 1866 – 17 August 1953) was an English architect and architectural historian, as was his father, also named Banister Fletcher. They wrote the standard textbook ''A History of Architecture'' ...
, published in London in 1896. The book became a standard reference work, with updated editions published throughout the 20th century. The latest, 21st edition, was published in 2019.
Editions
Murray Fraser
F. Murray Fraser, (April 18, 1937 – March 12, 1997) was a Canadian academic and University president.
Early life and education
Born in Liverpool, England, Fraser was raised in Nova Scotia.
Dan Cruickshank
Daniel Gordon Raffan Cruickshank (born 26 August 1949) is a British art historian and BBC television presenter, with a special interest in the history of architecture.
Professional career
Cruickshank holds a BA in Art, Design and Architecture ...
, yet their good intentions did little to resolve the fundamental problem. A fully post-colonial reworking planned by John McKean in the mid-2000s never happened, and post-colonialism itself has since been absorbed into broader concepts of globalisation.
20th-century editions
There was a major revision with the 6th edition in 1921, when much of the text was rewritten by Banister Flight Fletcher and his first wife. This was over twenty years after his father's death, and for this edition, his father's name was dropped, and the numerous drawings were replaced by new ones by George G. Woodward and others. According to J. Mordaunt Crook, this edition concentrated "on supplying an epitomised history of world architecture" such that "Fletcher turned a useful handbook into a veritable student's bible". Fletcher produced the sixteenth edition shortly before his death in 1953.
A centenary 20th edition edited by
Dan Cruickshank
Daniel Gordon Raffan Cruickshank (born 26 August 1949) is a British art historian and BBC television presenter, with a special interest in the history of architecture.
Professional career
Cruickshank holds a BA in Art, Design and Architecture ...
was produced in 1996.
21st-century editions
The 21st edition was published in 2019, edited by
Murray Fraser
F. Murray Fraser, (April 18, 1937 – March 12, 1997) was a Canadian academic and University president.
Early life and education
Born in Liverpool, England, Fraser was raised in Nova Scotia.RIBA
''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
. Retitled as ''Sir Banister Fletcher's Global History of Architecture'', it aims to correct the historical western-centric imbalance of the content, which has been tackled by earlier editions, but not eradicated. The RIBA claims that the expanded edition, written by 88 experts from around the world, represents the most comprehensive survey of global architecture to date. In a review of the new edition, Preeti Chopra writes that "''Banister Fletcher's Global History'' uses as its starting point 3500 BCE, commonly accepted as the beginning of the ' urban revolution', and concludes with the present day. A neutral framework divides the volumes into seven parts covering sequential and broad periods that unfold in linear time without focusing on particular historical events or favouring particular regions. ... Acknowledging that this edition bears only some 'traces' of the original works, Fraser defends the use of Sir Banister Fletcher's name in the title by affirming that 'just as no man is an island, nothing stands anew'."
File:Prehistoric_Architecture_1.jpg, Prehistoric architecture. 17th ed.
File:Great_Pyramid_of_Cheops-Gizeh32.jpg, Great Pyramid of Cheops. 17th ed.
File:West_Asiatic_Architecture_68.jpg, Ziggurats. 17th ed.
File:Acropolis-Athens_100.jpg, Acropolis, Athens. 17th ed.
File:Baths_of_Cracalla,_Rome,_the_Tepidarum._Wellcome_M0007350.jpg, Baths of Cracalla, Rome, the Tepidarum. 7th ed.
File:Antwerp_Cathedral_572.jpg, Antwerp Cathedral. 17th ed.
File:FGothic_details_563.jpg, French Gothic. 17th ed.
File:A_history_of_architecture_on_the_comparative_method_for_the_student,_craftsman,_and_amateur_-_The_Tree_of_Architecture.png, The Tree of Architecture. 7th ed.