For a history of the first artificial (clothing) dye, see Simon Garfield's book Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World:

* https://www.simongarfield.com/books/mauve/

* https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/580291.Mauve

* https://archive.org/details/mauvehowonemanin0000garf

It's a few years old now (2000), so I don't know if there's a newer/better 'full-length' laymen treatment on the topic:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Perkin