The "Niederländische Briefe" therefore provided the intellectual justification for art history as an autonomous discipline, and indeed Schnaase's next major project was the composition of his monumental "Geschichte der bildenden Künste" ("History of the fine arts"). He was able to pursue this project despite his continuing employment as a jurist. As he neared completion of the first volume, however, Schnaase was surprised by the appearance of a "Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte" ("Handbook of art history") (1841) by Franz Theodor Kugler. Kugler's work, which he claimed to be "the first comprehensive survey of art" seemed to duplicate Schnaase's project. Schnaase became convinced, however, that if Kugler was his better in technical matters, he could still offer a unique, general viewpoint of the development of art. The first two volumes, on ancient near eastern and on classical art, respectively, were published in 1843, and dedicated to Kugler.