A Nomenclature of Colors
RIDGWAY, Robert. A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists, and Compendium of Useful Knowledge for Ornithologists. 129, [1] pp., illustrated with 17 plates, 10 of which are hand-coloured. 8vo, 207 x 130 mm., bound in publisher's brown cloth. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1886.
Ridgway's extremely scarce first book on colour. Ridgway was the first full-time curator of birds at the United States National Museum where he developed his system, which was one of the first and most important colour systems for bird identification. He later expanded it in his classic Color Standards and Nomenclature. Both books are rare, but the early version is extremely so. His works have endured, and everyone from stamp collectors to naturalists to chemists refers to 'Ridgway colors' to identify specific shades.
Neat ex-library, from the library of James Madison Stone and then gifted to the New Salem Academy in 1927, with some stamps to the endpapers and title page (with Stone's signature in pencil facing the title page), and a library label on the spine. Overall in nice condition.
Item nr. 172547
Price:
$4,750.00