The best-known of Fortescue's publications during his lifetime was,
Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, which he actually wrote not out of academic interest but to raise funds for construction on his church.
In 1913 Fortescue compiled a book of
Latin Hymns which he originally gathered for the use of his parishioners, providing his own English prose translations.
He also contributed many articles to the
Catholic Encyclopedia (1907—1913), and it is in this context that his work has the most public familiarity today.
With his love of history and skill with languages, he devoted much study to the origin and history of the Eastern Churches, both Uniate and Orthodox. Among his most famous works is
The Orthodox Eastern Church and
The Lesser Eastern Churches. He was, however, a natural product of his times, and his treatment of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches was sometimes tainted by his ultramontanist tendencies (although he held a very negative opinion of the Roman Curia). Adrian Fortescue says that intolerance of all other customs with the wish to make the whole Christian world conform to its own local practices has always been and still is a characteristic note of the Byzantine Church or Eastern Orthodox church.
Fortescue was also an artist of considerable talent, especially in the media of watercolor, drawing and calligraphy. He was also a recognized authority on heraldry, and his own designs were widely admired in his day. A memorial exhibition of Adrian Fortescue's work was organized in the Letchworth Public Library in 1923.
Selected bibliography
Works about Fortescue
In 1999, Michael Davies published
The Wisdom of Adrian Fortescue about the life and contributions of Dr. Fortescue.
In 2007, Anthony Dragani published a book entitled,
Adrian Fortescue and the Eastern Christian Churches, a critical examination of his writings on the subject, analyzing what he said about the Eastern Christian Churches, and highlighting his insights into key questions.