These may be called standard colours and if the terms pale, deep, dark, bright, and dull, be applied to any of the standard colours, suppose crimson, or the same colour tinged lightly with other colours, suppose grey, or black, or brown, and applied in this manner: Though these may answer for the description of most minerals, they would be found defective when applied to general science: the number therefore is extended to one hundred and ten, comprehending the most common colours or tints that appear in nature. Werner’s suites of colours extend to seventy-nine tints. He copied the colours of these minerals, and found the component parts of each tint, as mentioned by Werner, uncommonly correct.
This great mineralogist, aware of the importance of colours, found it necessary to establish a Nomenclature of his own in his description of minerals, and it is astonishing how correct his eye has been for the author of the present undertaking went over Werner’s suites of colours, being assisted by Professor Jameson, who was so good as arrange specimens of the suites of minerals mentioned by Werner, as examples of his Nomenclature of Colours. He does not pretend indeed that it is his own idea for, so far as he knows, Werner is entitled to the honour of having suggested it. The author, from his experience and long practice in painting objects which required the most accurate eye to distinguish colours, hopes that he will not be thought altogether unqualified for such an undertaking. Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Morbid Anatomy, is the object of the present attempt. To remove the present confusion in the names of colours, and establish a standard that may be useful in general science, particularly those branches, viz. An object may be described of such a colour by one person, and perhaps mistaken by another for quite a different tint: as we know the names of colours are frequently misapplied and often one name indiscriminately given to many colours. Description without figure is generally difficult to be comprehended description and figure are in many instances still defective but description, figure, and colour combined form the most perfect representation, and are next to seeing the object itself. How defective, therefore, must description be when the terms used are ambiguous and where there is no regular standard to refer to. In describing any object, to specify its colours is always useful but where colour forms a character, it becomes absolutely necessary.
It is singular, that a thing so obviously useful, and in the description of objects of natural history and the arts, where colour is an object indispensably necessary, should have been so long overlooked. The 1814 publication was also recently republished by Smithsonian Books.īelow is the complete text of the preface to the original second edition of Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours and the list of colors that were changed from Werner’s original arrangement when Syme adapted it.Ī nomenclature of colours, with proper coloured examples of the different tints, as a general standard to refer to in the description of any object, has been long wanted in arts and sciences. The first edition was published in 1814 later in 1821 with minor revisions and some additional observations in the preface for how color classification systems are used in various areas of scientific study.īelow are some scans from the 1821 publication scan available on the Internet Archive. Syme enhanced Werner’s original guide by including painted swatches for each color based on Werner’s precise descriptions and examples of where to find the colors in the natural world. In the late 18th century, German mineralogist Abraham Werner devised a standardized scheme for classifying colors which was later adapted and revised in the 19th century by Scottish painter Patrick Syme. Charles Darwin even consulted it for reference during his voyages on the HMS Beagle while researching natural history. Before photography became commonplace, colorful details were often captured by the written word and Werner’s guidebook served as one of the best guides for classification.
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