A collection of all the historical pigments mentioned in the treatises
included in the series, Colour Palettes, by century, complemented by
recipes from other contemporary sources. The entries define the
pigment - color, its source (animal, plant, mineral) and its name - and
describe its method of preparation, with historical remarks tracing the
pigment through the centuries. Recipes provide the documentary history
of the pigment beginning with the earliest known through to 1837, the
date of George Field's Chromatography, to make up a history of each
pigment.