For centuries, artists and designers have known that color is as important to design as the design itself. Most designers are familiar with Pantone’s reference books or CSI, but when did it all begin? You might think it began with Pantone or Munsell. But it started centuries earlier. Here is a brief look at the evolution of today’s color reference guides.

More than three centuries ago, a Dutch artist by the name A. Boogert created a book of colors. While little is known about the author, scholars believe the book titled Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’ea was used to teach aspiring painters how to mix watercolor paints to create certain hues and change their tone by adding one, two or three parts water. The book is described as an “illuminated mirror of painting, in which we treat all kinds of watercolors with the description of their preparation and their mixture, which is very useful to represent and color the engravings and drawings from nature.”

This book is thought to be one of the earliest example of a comprehensive guide to colors. At almost 900 pages, it is an impressive showing of multiple colors in differing shades. What makes the book unique is how Boogert names the shades, including their listing in an index.