First published in German in 1810, this detailed volume was translated from the German by Charles Lock Eastlake and, in six parts, examines every aspect of Goethe's theory of colours, including psychological colours, chemical colours, the moral effect of colour, minerals, plants, insects, mammals and a multitude of further subjects.

First published in German in 1810, this detailed volume was translated from the German by Charles Lock Eastlake and, in six parts, examines every aspect of Goethe's theory of colours, including psychological colours, chemical colours, the moral effect of colour, minerals, plants, insects, mammals and a multitude of further subjects.

Later recognised for his work in interior and furniture design, Charles Locke Eastlake (1833 1906) had shown early promise in making architectural drawings, and he was awarded a silver medal in 1854 by the Royal Academy. His passion for Gothic style developed during a tour of Europe in the late 1850s, and his History of the Gothic Revival (1872) is also reissued in this series. Focusing on interior design, the present work was published in 1868 and influenced the style of later nineteenth-century 'Modern Gothic' furniture. It contains many illustrations of Eastlake's own designs for furniture, tiles and wallpaper, including colour plates which can be viewed online at www.cambridge.org/9781108075343. The book moves from the street into the home and then from room to room, finishing with chapters on crockery, cutlery, glassware, and dress and jewellery. It gives a fascinating insight into the late Victorian taste for the medieval, also fostered by the Arts and Crafts movement."

This work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 1832) was translated into English in 1840 by Sir Charles Eastlake (1793 1865), painter and later keeper of the National Gallery. Goethe's 1810 work was rejected by many contemporary scientists because it appeared to contradict the physical laws laid down by Newton. However, its focus on the human perception of the colour spectrum, as opposed to the observable optical phenomenon, was attractive to, and influential upon, artists and philosophers. As Eastlake says in his preface, the work's dismissal on scientific grounds had caused 'a well-arranged mass of observations and experiments, many of which are important and interesting', to be overlooked. Eastlake also puts Goethe's work into its aesthetic and scientific context and describes its original reception. His clear translation of Goethe's observations and experiments on colour and light will appeal to anyone interested in our responses to art."

Charles Locke Eastlake (1833-1906), an interior, furniture and industrial designer, showed talent as an architect and was awarded a Silver Medal in 1854 by the Royal Academy. He is known for influencing the style of later nineteenth-century 'Modern' Gothic furniture with his Hints on Household Taste (1868), but his passion for medieval architecture developed much earlier while he was in Europe during the 1850s. In 1866 he became Secretary to the Royal Institute of British Architects, and it was in 1872 that this work was published. The book is notable for being released at the height of the Gothic Revival movement in the later nineteenth century. It includes detailed comments on the architects, societies, literature and buildings that formed the cornerstones of the Gothic Revival, primarily in Britain, from around 1650 to 1870. A valuable mine of information, it remains a key source on the topic.