£500
8vo, pp. vii, [i], 72 + frontispiece and 4 plates, all with onlaid coloured triangles. Original green textured cloth, printed paper label to front board. Some of the coloured triangles partly oxidised. Cloth somewhat faded and rubbed, label marked. Gift inscription to flyleaf: ‘Alexander Lauder from Mr Patrik, Dec. 1927’.
The chief work of David Ramsay Hay (1798-1866), whose artistic leanings were turned towards house-painting by the advice of Sir Walter Scott, for whom he did much work at Abbotsford. He developed his own unique theory of colour harmony, outlined in this work with demonstrations and arguments from (pseudo-)science, and it proved popular and influential: the first edition of 1818 was followed by five more, each expanded and edited.
