Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
£2,700
Rare Books, Manuscripts & Photographs
Auction: 16 January 2008 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Zur farbenlehre (erklarung der zu Goethe's farbenlehre gehorigen tafeln). Tubingen: J.G. Cotta, 1810, 3 volumes, 8vo and 4to , 17 engraved plates, 12 of which partly coloured by hand, plates mounted on guards, contemporary marbled boards, 7 plates from a shorter copy, a few very slightly trimmed at fore-edge without loss, occasional light spotting in text, boards slightly rubbed at edges and joints, spine of atlas slightly torn at head and foot
Footnote
Provenance: W. Kahl, early signature on title-pages; Robert Lenkiewicz (1941-2002), artist.
Note: Wallis (1977) 210; Hagen 347.
first edition. The culmination of Goethe's work on optics, this work was a savage, and ultimately unsuccessful, criticism of the demonstration by Newton that white light is composite. Goethe took a psychological view of colour and his chapter on physiological colours (those that depend on the condition of the eye rather than illumination) is considered the most successful part of the work.