On 20 Sep 04 at 9:06, John Bryan wrote: > Prior to the current RHS Color Chart, the old version circa 1950's, > also had descriptions of the color, these I found most helpful when > writing descriptions of lilies. They referenced fruits, vegetables, > etc., which conjured easily understood descriptions, ideal when > writing descriptions. Such a chart might be less expensive than the > new color chart, and perhaps as, or even more useful. There have been two editions of of the RHS chart, the second in two printings. The first edition was in the 1930's, a box of loose sheets. The colors are named rather than numbered. The second edition, first printing, is the same as what's now on the market, but without the holes in the middle of the color patches: several little booklets of color patches joined at one corner so you can fan them out. I think this second edition was first published around 1970. The second printing of the second edition was published in late 19080's more or less. It has holes in the middle of the color patches. When it was published, there was an article about it in the RHS Journal and they remarked how very difficult it was to prepare inks that accurately matched the previous edition. The old 1930's one is obsolete; it does not cover the same gamut of colors as the later edition. There is a cross reference between the numbered colors of the later edition and the named colors of the earlier edition. In addition to these, there is the very old French "Repertoire du Coleurs", now about 100 years old. I don't know if the CIE coordinates for the RHS color patches have ever been worked out. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island