Three Monographs on Color (Rudolph Ruzicka)

We recently took in a few boxes of books. We surveyed the spines to see what might be of interest. We didn’t know what this was, but we could tell it was a good one. Published in 1935 by the Research Laboratories of the International Printing Ink Corporation and its subsidiary companies—and designed and illustrated by Rudolph Ruzicka, this one is a handsome three-volume reference set dedicated to the scientific and practical application of color in industry. But one need not be in any industry to get something out of it. The set is organized into three specific individual titles that cover the foundational pillars of the matter at hand: Color Chemistry, Color as Light, and Color in Use. Illustrated throughout with precise color plates and technical demonstrations as prepared by Ruzicka (with discreet examples of his lettering throughout), this targeted instructional set is a notable artifact of early-20th-century American industrial design and corporate printing education. A very fine thing and a thing that is a very fine example of bookmaking.