This Book Charts the Colors of the Natural World

Steel Gray. Arterial Blood Red. Sap Green. These are just a few of the descriptions you’ll find in Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, a book first published in 1814 and set to make a stunning return to shelves. The book was originally produced for scientists, naturalists, and anyone undertaking an artistic endeavor who needed to conjure up the color of something without photographs to look at or Google to search. Abraham Gottlob Werner, a German mineralogist, started the descriptive system of explaining and charting colors in nature and it was trusted by the likes of Charles Darwin. The book shares where in nature you can find all these specific colors, and it reads like a book of poetry.