The Handpainted 17th-Century Precursor to the Pantone Color Guide

In the 17th century, a Dutch artist by the name of none other than “A. Boogert” hand-painted an 800-page guide to mixing watercolors; here’s just one page out of the beautiful Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau. The diligence of it all! You think if “A. Boogert” were alive today he’d be just another asshole exasperatedly closing Instagram if it takes even a second to load? More from the book here, and although the server’s crashing currently the entire manuscript is online for your eventual viewing pleasure.

(Related, from 2011: my favorite remix of “Colours.”)