The Anatomy of Color, and Nature's Colorful Palette

I am a decade past retirement age. Despite repeated half-hearted attempts to downsize my possessions, I still have a too-large collection of books. Many of them are exquisite, all but perfectly conceived, designed, and printed. How will I ever part with them? At last I’ve reached a compromise (or so I thought): Short of discarding the finest books, I have pledged to refrain from collecting significant new ones.

But I’ve fallen short of that as well. In recent months, I could not resist buying copies of two magnificent volumes, a misstep no doubt but one I am certain I’ll never regret. They are two stunning clothboard books about color (sorry, e-book editions will not suffice), both by British color expert Patrick Baty. One is titled The Anatomy of Color: The Story of Heritage Paints and Pigments (Thames and Hudson, 2017), and the other (only recently released) is all about color in nature, and—by implication, if not openly discussed—the role of color in camouflage. Produced by Baty and four contributors (Elaine Charwat, Peter Davidson, André Karticzek, and Giulia Simonini), it is titled Nature’s Palette: A Color Reference System from the Natural World (Princeton University Press, 2021).

Both volumes are simply astounding in every regard. Reproduced at top is a page of bird feathers from the volume on color in nature. Each book is 300 pages or more, and while this page is especially striking, there are many more examples, page after page, that are equally unforgettable.