271 Years Before Pantone

The headline to this page says it all: 271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book. What it doesn't really impress upon you is just how gorgeous the book looks. Published in 1692 the single copy watercolor guide predated the Pantone guide by quite a huge chunk of time (Pantone was released in 1963).

If you're looking for hi-res copies of the whole thing, steer yourself over here.