Facts about Processes, Pigments and Vehicles: A Manual for Art Students

Mr. Laurie is entitled to speak with authority on all that pertains to pigments and their preparation, for not only is he well known in purely chemical circles as an able experimenter, but he has had practical experience of colour-making in his capacity of scientific adviser to the firm of Madderton & Co. In this excellent little book the author attempts to give to those who use paints some knowledge of the methods of preparation and the properties of the materials they work with. The experimental method is adopted, and by means of some very simple apparatus the student is taught how to investigate the permanency of a colour, and to perform experiments intended to make clear to him why, of two apparently similar pigments, one may be used in safety, while the other must in many cases be avoided. The chapters on “process” work deserve careful attention from those interested in the reproduction of diagrams, and the book should be in the hands of all artists who are anxious to hand on their creations with undiminished brilliancy for the admiration of future generations.

—The Cambridge Review, Volume 17