[Rarebooks] FS: 1859 - Color Contrasts by Chevruel - Color theory in Painting & Art

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

“The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colours, and Their 
Applications to the Arts”

By M.E. Chevreul.
Published in London by Henry G. Bohn in 1859. 3rd edition.

The importance of Michel-Eugene Chevreul's book on color theory to the 
19th century art world cannot be overstated, and his influence on the 
Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists is well documented. Oddly, 
Chevreul was not himself an artist, but a chemist, twice President of 
the Academie des Sciences, and Director of the dye-works at the famous 
Gobelins tapestry manufactory. It was while there that he was confronted 
with problems with the matching of colors in the weaving process, 
problems that were not due to the yarns or dyes themselves. Chevreul 
discovered that the problem was that the weavers were perceiving colors 
differently in isolation than when viewed together during the weaving, 
and thus the foundations of modern color theory were born. In 1839 he 
published his findings in France, and the book went into numerous 
editions and translations in subsequent decades. This 1859 edition was 
translated from the French by Charles Martel, and was the first complete 
English edition and the best translation of this great and important 
work. This edition, unlike some later ones, did not include color plates 
for the simple reason that the publisher estimated that to make them 
would triple the price of the book and keep it out of the hands of many 
who had need of it.

Hardcover. 5"x7.5", xxvii + 403 pages, 4 double-page black & white 
plates, one with a folding volvelle; publisher's red blindstamped cloth, 
gilt title.  The covers have light wear and soil, the spine has some 
chipping (please see the photo). The book itself has some minor soil, 
and light scattered spotting, but otherwise is clean and nice, with a 
tight binding.  $125

Some pictures = >
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