LIMITED AND NUMBERED FACSIMILE EDITION OF 1,692 COPIES.

It was 1960 when Lawrence Herbert was working in a color printing and sales company mainly focused on cosmetics. This businessman and great visionary chose to take over the assets of a company that was $50,000 in debt.

In 1962 Herbert founded Pantone, creating a new formula from 10 pigments in order to obtain more uniform results and resulting in a guide of 500 colors. The success was immediate in companies dedicated to the graphic arts, industrial and textile industries; a great example of its usefulness was the Kodak brand, which during the 50’s began to suffer great losses in the sale of its photo reels because in its boxes the yellow color did not always share its homogeneity, causing people to reject the packages with a darker shade that led them to think that it was not the original of the brand or that perhaps it had expired.

These well-known and widely used color guides in the world of design are a “must” that has also managed to sneak into the creative universe by varying and playing with more and more surprising models. What many do not know is that the first guide similar to Pantone was created by a Dutch artist. A. Boogert wrote in the year 1692 a detailed work in which he presented colors and their scales in watercolor, discovering their nuances to the world by mixing them with each other.

Only one copy of this sensational and advanced volume exists in the Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence, France. This is because in 1692 the printing press did not yet have the technology to print such a treatise. It would be another hundred years before it could be reproduced with any reliability, through lithography.

FACSIMILE EDITION

This 912-page book is a facsimile edition of the original “Traité des couleurs servant a la peinture a l’eau” by A. Boogert; a numbered, limited, worldwide edition of 1,692 copies, in homage to the year in which Boogert wrote the book.

In facsimile edition: the leather hardcover reproduces the original with the four ribs on the spine and the design of the original cover.

The interior is printed in offset CORAL BOOK IVORY volume, a paper of a bone tone that imitates and reproduces the papers of the time.

An elegant slipcase with stamping, which includes, in addition to the book, a numbered and stamped certificate of originality and ten magnificent plates also in limited edition on symbol free life paper of 250 grams rough to be able to frame them or simply collect them.

The book reproduces the original text in the author’s native language, where in the more than 900 pages of the book, the artist provides the proportions of pigment and water necessary to create each color with its tones and shades. To illustrate his explanations, he draws each page with the colors he is talking about. In addition to an index in which all the colors are listed and ordered, Boogert states in the introductory text that the book was created for educational purposes.

Over 900 pages written and painted entirely by hand, “Le Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau” was the most complete guide to painting and color of its time.

The result was a splendid didactic guide. But the irony is that only a single copy existed, which was probably seen by very few people. If not, it would have served as an indispensable tool for more than one artist for centuries to come.

The book is accompanied by a bilingual addendum with texts in English and Spanish, by prestigious graphic designers, advertising creatives, academics, fashion designers, architects?

An ode to color, to Pantone: the essential color guide in the universe of creativity and design whose use has transcended centuries to remain a fundamental tool in the contemporary era.

*Less than 50 copies are available. Only a few copies will remain in specialized bookstores at $195

CASE

An elegant slipcase, whose interior contains the original facsimile book and a label printed on FASSON HIGH GLOSS 180 grams art paper. The label is printed in Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray, chosen color of the year in 2012 and is numbered from 1 to 1.692.

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

Certificate of originality, numbered from 1 to 1692, printed on NEW PIONNER paper of 350 grams.

COLLECTION OF LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

Ten prints for each collector’s edition, selected and limited to 1,692 units, in size 17,5×26 centimeters on NEW PIONNER 350 grams paper, to be framed or simply collected.

STUDY BOOK OFFPRINT

A booklet with prologues where renowned artists from the world of fashion, design and architecture, such as Alberto Corazón, Tomás Laso and Teresa Sapey, participate with accompanying texts, including their personal perspective of the Pantone world and how it affects their respective professions.

An offprint with forewords by artists, graphic and fashion designers, architects, advertising creatives, etc. In bilingual Spanish and English.