|  | | Robert F. Wilson & B. K. Battersby. Foreword by John P. Glass.
London. British Colour Council. 1970. Second revised and expanded edition. First published in 1949. 3 volumes, in burgundy buckram slipcase; 2 swatch volumes in a burgundy buckram binder, text volume bound in matching burgundy buckram. 23 fold-out sheets of colour swatches in volumes 1 and 2, with black card viewing strip loosely inserted in front of each volume; xxii, 38 pages of text in volume 3. 426 colours pictured in 1260 swatches. 285 x 225mm (11¼ x 8¾"). 4.5kg. . English. Very good; buckram binding is brittle and has subsequently split along half of outer hinge of volume 1 and volume 3 is starting to crack at spine; light shelf wear and marks to slipcase, 6m split along one edge; the bindings remain solid, with all the sample sheets and their swatches present.
A scarce colour sample book, with all samples present. These three volumes were produced by the British Colour Council with an intention to standardise colours across the interior decoration trade. A decorator could use their copy of the dictionary to specify to a manufacturer exactly which colour they wished to achieve. The books became an invaluable aid but few survive because they were used so extensively as working tools.
This second edition has 372 of the original colours plus an additional 36 new colours. This new shades were partly selected from the Dictionary of Colour Standards for Wool (1968) and partly from colour palettes not adequately covered in the first edition. Each of these 408 colours are shown on three surfaces - matt, gloss and pile fabric (carpet). There is an additional page of 18 neutrals and pastels with matt swatches only. In the first edition there were several colours where no pile fabric sample is included because 'it was not considered advisable to dye that particular colour on pile fabric owing to the possibility of fading or discolouring in a comparatively short space of time'. These have now been included.
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