Werner's Nomenclature of Colours

A colour guide to nature, Werner's Nomenclature of Colours pairs 110 colour swatches with poetic descriptions of the plants, animals, and minerals each shade was drawn from.

“I had been struck by the beautiful colour of the sea when seen through the chinks of a straw hat… according to Werner nomenclature ‘Indigo with a little Azure blue’.”— Charles Darwin, 1832

In the eighteenth century, German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner set out to establish a standard guide to colour for use across the sciences. Decades later, Scottish botanical artist Patrick Syme extended Werner's work, refining it into a comprehensive catalogue of the most prominent shades and hues found in nature.

Each colour swatch in Syme's edition carries its poetic name, examples found in nature, and colour recipes to replicate them in the arts. It offers a practical tool to be used by artists, scientists, and explorers – most notably Charles Darwin during his voyage on HMS Beagle. It became one of the most charming reference books of its age, and a forerunner of the standardised colour systems that followed.

Pairing Werner's expanded work with a new introduction, this edition lists the original swatches as they were identified, named, and coloured in 1821.

Book Features:

A facsimile of Patrick Syme's 1821 expansion of Werner's standard colour nomenclature.
110 numbered colour swatches with named examples drawn from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.
The reference guide Charles Darwin carried on the voyage of HMS Beagle.
A foundational reference in how colour was named, matched, and understood.
A distinctive gift and coffee table book for artists, designers, and anyone fascinated by the history of colour theory.