Beschreibung:

CHEVREUL, Michel Eugène (1786-1889). Exposé d' un Moyen de Définir et de Nommer les Couleurs d'... CHEVREUL, Michel Eugène (1786-1889). Exposé d' un Moyen de Définir et de Nommer les Couleurs d' après une Méthode Précise et Expérimentale avec l' Application de ce Moyen a la Définition et a la Dénomination des Couleurs d' un Grand Nombre de Corps Naturels et de Produits Artificiels ... Atlas. Paris: Typographie de Firmin Didot Frères et Fils, 1861. "Atlas" volume only, 4to (347 x 270mm). Wood-engraved device on title, 14 striking coloured engraved plates (only, of 15, lacking plate 3) printed by René-Henri Digeon, one of which folding, 12 of which mounted, all but one of the plates with printed captions dated 1855 (some mainly marginal spotting and staining, a few darker spots). Original [?or contemporary] sunflower yellow marbled boards with label printed "Cercles Chromatiques de M. E. Chevreul" laid down on upper cover (upper and lower sections of spine torn away, rubbed, some staining). Provenance: full fore-names of the author added in later pencil on title. FIRST EDITION of this pioneering treatise on colour theory which was intended for artists as much as scientists and which came to influence the Impressionists and Pointillists. Chevreul's "colour studies made him one of the most influential scientists of the nineteenth century" (DSB). The copy in the Royal Academy's collection (record number 12/4743), like the present copy, contains only 14 plates and is without the text volume. The plates are remarkable. Ron, Bibliotheca Tinctoria 204.