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[COLOR-PLATE BOOKS]. [FIELD, George (1777-1854)]. Chromatics or, An Essay on The Analogy and Harmony of Colours. London: Printed for the Author, by A. J. Valpy… and sold by Mr. Newman…, 1817. 4to. Illustrated with 6 fully hand-colored Kandinsky-like plates, 15 diagrams in text of which 12 hand-coloured in-text illustrations, lacking the frontispiece (as is most common for this title). viii, 57, [1, blank], [2, ads] pp. Approximately 11 ¾ x 9”. Bound in modern full library binding of green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, modern endleaves and blanks (minor soiling to endleaves, bookplate of Cheltenham Public Library on fp and bar-code sticker on ffep, green circular sticker on rp., some minor toning, occasional minor thumbsoiling in text). Fine. THE RARE FIRST EDITION OF THIS MAGNIFICENT BOOK ON CHROMATICS, ONE OF ONLY 250 COPIES PRINTED. The chemist George Field constructed a color circle from the basic colors of red, yellow and blue, thus wishing to take up a position opposed to Newton. Secondary and tertiary colors arise through progressive superimposition. Meanings were allocated to the colors: hot (red) and cold (blue) stand opposite one another; likewise advancing and retiring. George Field also saw a connection between color and sound, and so draws our attention to one of the stumbling blocks of the era: namely, an understanding of the carrier medium of light.