Werner's Nomenclature of Colours
Werner's nomenclature of colours : with additions, arranged so as to render it highly useful to the arts and sciences, particularly zoology, botany, chemistry, mineralogy, and morbid anatomy : annexed to which are examples selected from well-known objects in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms
Patrick Syme was an artist in Scotland who saw the need for standard names of the colors called for in drawing manuals depicting flowers, animals, and scenes in nature. Through a network of colleagues he came across Abraham Werner’s chart listing colors of minerals and decided to use it as a basis for displaying and naming colors along with recipes for producing them from artists’ pigments. This copy of the second edition belonged to Robert Ridgway, a curator of birds at the Smithsonian from 1880 to 1929. As a taxonomist describing newly discovered species, Ridgway was intensely interested in the colors used to identify species, and he must have studied Werner’s nomenclature for his own publications on the subject: A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists (1886) and Color Standards and Color Nomenclature (1912).
This book has a full leather early 19th century binding. Both boards are detached and suffering from red-rot. There is a letter attached to the front pastedown that is torn. Additionally, there are small notes and color swatches throughout the text. There is also a loose note at the back board. Conservators will remove the letter from the front board and repair it. The textblock spine will be cleaned and re-lined. All notes, swatches, and letters will be placed in Mylar L-sleeves. The boards will be consolidated and a new spine created. The volume will then be housed in a double tray box.
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Adoption Type: Preserve for the Future
