Frankfurt am Main, Leopold Cassella & Cie., 1896. Small, thick quarto/folio (25.0 x 16.5 x 5.5 cm). Double frontispiece; title page, ix, 275, xv pp.; 38 numbered and one unnumbered sheets (three large, double-folded) with mounted coloured examples of fabric (usually 8 samples, sometimes fewer, or many more). Another 160 samples mounted in the text. Original blind stamped cloth with gilt title on the spine. Patterned endpapers.

A rare, well-designed trade catalogue of dyed fabric, with ample examples, as well as information about the colouring processes, their application and quality, determined precisely according to up to eight characteristics. 120 years after publication, the colours are bright, and still show the quality of the colouring indeed. The firm was founded by Leopold Cassella (1766-1847). By the end of the 19th century, it had factories in Frankfurt and Lyon, as shown on the frontispieces. "Founded in 1798 in the Frankfurt Jewish Alley by Leopold Cassella, Cassella operated as an independent company until 1995 and was one of many predecessor companies of today's Sanofi. Its history is closely tied to its former owners, the prominent Jewish German Gans family. Its main products were dyes, drugs, cosmetics and various other chemical products." (Wikipedia). A well-preserved item. Rare, especially in this good state.