A very important collection of rare books from four centuries
We are pleased to offer a major collection of 250 antiquarian books on the subject of color. The collection encompasses a broad and wide-ranging approach to the subject, and is particularly strong in works on the more human aspects of color. There is less of physics and chemistry than of the arts and humanities. It includes works on color theory, color techniques, color nomenclature, artists' manuals and treatises, perception, vision, printing and the graphic arts, textiles, religion, biology, and yes, a few items on the physics and chemistry of color. In addition, there are four specialized bibliographies on color (Birren, Buckley, Herbert, Ingerand). The sixteenth century is represented by five titles, one of which, the Aristotle, is of considerable importance (De coloribus libellus, Florence, 1548). The others are Araldo, Occolti, Morato, and Telesio. The seventeenth century is represented by a rare artist's manual (Boutet) giving recipes for colors and pigment mixtures. The collection contains five titles from the eitheenth century including an early editon of Newton's Optics (1721), said to be "the single most important contribution to the science of color." Also a 1765 edition of Algarotti's popularization of Newton on light and colors; Castel's famous book of 1740 on color music (L'optique des couleurs); Arclais de Montamy on colors for enamel painting (1765) and a rare work by Opoix on color theory (1785). Fully 108 items are from the nineteenth century, many of considerable rarity. A few highlights from this century include a superb copy of Chevreul's rarest publication on color, the ExposÇ d'un moyen de dÇfinir et de nommer les couleurs, Paris, 1861, with the beautiful atlas of color plates; also a complete set, with the atlas, of the rare work by Persoz on the printing of fabrics; this was a major influence on the neo-impressionisn of Seurat. There are many other original editions of major and important authors including Edward Bancroft, William Benson (2), Faber Birren (17), Louis Bertrand Castel, Cennino Cennini, Chevreul (7), John Earhart (3), George Field (6), Goethe (4), D. R. Hay (4), Charles Henry, Johannes Itten (2), Charles Lacoutre, A. H. Munsell (8), Wilhelm Ostwald (4), J. F. Persoz, Robert Ridgway, Ogden Rood, M. A. Rosenstiehl, F. F. Runge, E. Seguy, Patrick Syme, Gerald Thayer, Robert F. Wilson and others. The collection is also strong on color systems, color atlases, color standards, and color nomenclature. Many of the books are handsomely illustrated in color and a selection of the most attractive would make a stunning exhibition. But our main purpose in gathering together these books was to form a base upon which to build a great and scholarly collection on the subject. We believe that this collection presents such an opportunity.
COLOR (about 250 items from the 16th - 20th century)