Back in 1692, an artist known only as “A. Boogert” sat down to write a book in Dutch about mixing watercolors.  Seems simple enough, but the finished product is more impressive than you could possibly imagine.

The 800-page book titled "Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau" explains how to mix paints with water and with each other to make an entire spectrum of hues. The fact one person spent so much time and effort just creating all these different colors is truly humbling.

The book, which is currently housed in the Bibliothèque Méjanes, and can also be viewed online through here.