The earliest forms of human creativity – in sculptures, marks, and cave paintings – bear witness to humanity's engagement with color. Nearly as old as these examples is the desire to convey structure, order, and meaning to this universal yet elusive concept, and this fascination unites the works collected in this extensive edition.

Gathering over 40 rare books and manuscripts from a rich collection of institutions, including the world's most distinguished color collections, The Book of Colour Concepts guides the reader on a color odyssey spanning four centuries with more than 350 images of magnificent wheels and spheres, carefully curated diagrams, and meticulously designed illustrations, many of which have been photographed exclusively for this edition.

Foundational works of color theory, such as Isaac Newton's Opticks and the seminal Zur Farbenlehre by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, are presented alongside rare and little-known contributions, including theosophical color systems by Charles Webster Liddell and Annie Bensam, the comprehensive "color dictionary" by Alois John Maurer and Morris Rea Paul, and the vibrant combinations by Japanese costume designer and artist Sanzo Wada.

This edition also highlights many exciting and often overlooked works by women, including the radically imaginative "color splashes" by English flower artist Mary Gartside. The color systems comprising this volume are framed by an introductory study by Alexandra Loske, while the original texts for the reproduced works analyze each concept in greater detail.

Illuminating the history of color in all its forms, The Book of Colour Concepts offers an unparalleled chronological exploration of color.