Theory of Colours

XXII

intent that stands as a whole before our soul, while the execution is usually achieved only in fragments, we resign ourselves to providing materials for the history instead of the history itself. These consist of translations, excerpts, our own and others' judgments, hints, and suggestions; a collection that, even if it does not meet all demands, will at least not lack the praise of having been made with earnestness and love. Moreover, such materials—not entirely raw, yet not fully processed—may perhaps be all the more agreeable to the thoughtful reader, as they provide him the convenience of forming a whole out of them in his own way.

However, everything is not yet done with the aforementioned third historical part. We have therefore added a fourth, supplementary one. This contains the revision, for the sake of which the paragraphs have primarily been numbered.