When Pantone published its first swatch book in 1963 it revolutionised the way we deal with colour and became an indispensable tool for any printing business. But long before there was PMS there was ‘A. Boogert’, an obscure artist who knocked out his own colour guide book in 1692 and beat Pantone to the punch by a whopping 271 years.
The Dutch painter known as A. Boogert created his nearly 800-page masterwork as a guide to mixing watercolours, complete with instructions on how to create the incredible range of hues and tones. Handwritten and painstakingly illustrated, this medieval Pantone swatch book is titled Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau, and currently resides in the Bibliotheque Mejanes in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Historian Erik Kwakkel has translated parts of the text, including an introduction detailing the use of the colour in painting, and agrees it was undoubtedly an educational guide. An extraordinarily complex and detailed feat, the book is one of the most exhaustive works on colour ever assembled, right up to the advent of Pantone in 1963. An incredible accomplishment for its time, and a significant signpost in the development of colour theory, it remains an irony that few would have ever seen the single handwritten copy of the tome.
A historical landmark, reproductions of the guide’s extensive colour panels reveal the detail of the book’s ambition. All it needs is a CMYK bridge, throw in some metallics and fluorescents and you’d be set!
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