Traite des Matieres Colorantes

1867. SCHUTZENBERGER, Paul. Traité des matières colorantes. Two volumes. xi, 544, [1], 647, [1] pp. With 74 tipped-in colored fabric samples, text figures. 8vo, 208 x 130 mm, Volume 1 bound in contemporary cloth-backed boards. Volume 2 in contemporary calf-backed boards. Paris: Victor Masson et fils, 1867. First and Only Edition. This early treatise by an important 19th-century chemist deals extensively with colouring matters and their application to dyeing, as well as with textile fibers and their treatment. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the book is the presence of 74 actual coloured fabric samples, employed by the author to illustrate his points. The importance of this publication is borne out in a testimonial delivered on the occasion of the centenary of Schützenberger's birth, celebrated in 1929: "This remarkable work, still a classic even today, has rendered inappreciable service to colorists of the entire world. It was the most complete collection of information then available on dyes and their application to textiles" (Centenaire Paul Schutzenberger, p. 74). Schützenberger (1829-1897) taught chemistry at Mulhouse before moving to Paris in 1865, where he became Director of the Ecole Municipale de Physique et Chemie in 1882. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1888. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the discovery of hydrosulphurous acid. Occasional foxing in volume 2, otherwise fine. Poggendorff III, 1217. Centenaire Paul Schutzenberger (Paris, 1931).