Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World

Garfield, Simon

ISBN 10: 0571201970 / ISBN 13: 9780571201976

Published by Faber & Faber, London, 2000

About this Item

Fine first edition, first printing in near fine dust jacket. Dj with small crease to top of front cover else fine. In 1856, an 18 year old chemist working in his home accidentally discovered the colour mauve while searching for artificial quinine. It made him the richest chemist in England and 'had fundamental effects on the development of explosives, perfume, photography and modern medicine. Photographs and illustrations. Bibliography; index.

Seller Inventory # 000941

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World
• Publisher: Faber & Faber, London
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0571201970
• ISBN 13: 9780571201976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Weight: 310 grams

About this title

Synopsis

An artificial dye, mauve, was discovered by a 19th-century chemist called William Perkin while searching for a synthetic alternative to natural quinine. This book examines how the different worlds of fashion, industry, business, chemistry and medicine were transformed by a single colour.

Review

In 1856, while trying to synthesize artificial quinine, 18-year-old chemistry student William Perkin instead produced a murky residue. Fifty years later, he described the event: he "was about to throw a certain residue away when I thought it might be interesting. The solution of it resulted in a strangely beautiful color." Perkin had stumbled across the world's first aniline dye, a color that became known as mauve.

"So what?" you might say. "A teenager invented a new color." As Simon Garfield admirably points out in Mauve, the color really did change the world. Before Perkin's discovery all the dyes and paints were colored by roots, leaves, insects, or, in the case of purple, mollusks. As a result, colors were inconsistent and unpredictably strong, often fading or washing out. Perkin found a dye that would always produce a uniform shade--and he pointed the way to other synthetic colors, thus revolutionizing the world of both dyemaking and fashion. Mauve became all the rage. Queen Victoria wore it to her daughter's wedding in 1858, and the highly influential Empress Eugénie decided the color matched her eyes. Soon, the streets of London erupted in what one wag called the "mauve measles."

Mauve had a much wider impact as well. By finding a commercial use for his discovery--much to the dismay of his teacher, the great August Hofmann, who believed there needed to be a separation between "pure" and "applied" science--Perkin inspired others to follow in his footsteps: "Ten years after Perkin's discovery of mauve, organic chemistry was perceived as being exciting, profitable, and of great practical use." The influx of bright young men all hoping to earn their fortunes through industrial applications of chemistry later brought significant advances in the fields of medicine, perfume, photography, and even explosives. Through it all, Garfield tells his story in clever, witty prose, turning this odd little tale into a very entertaining read. --Sunny Delaney