perfume books: 38 posts

Elisabeth de Feydeau, an author of A Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette’s Perfumer has released a new book on fragrance. Just like her previous book, Les Parfums : Histoire, Anthologie, Dictionnaire is a fruit of extended and thorough research. It looks at the history of fragrance and explores the customs and traditions surrounding its use. The author also includes fascinating materials based on the interviews with perfumers working for Chanel, Guerlain, Dior, Hermès and other fragrance houses. I find it to be one of the best perfume themed books I have come across recently, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who speak French. Available from amazon.fr.

This fall the perfume lovers will have some new books to anticipate. Pictured above is the English translation of perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena’s Le Parfum. Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent contains Ellena’s views on perfumery, marketing, materials and composition. The book is full of many interesting details about his own creative process, but on the whole, it is a general analysis. Available for pre-order on amazon.com. The official launch is November 2011.

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A muse but also writer in her own right, Louise Colet inspired Gustav Flaubert’s masterpiece, Madame Bovary (1856.)  She also left her mark through their beautiful exchange of letters. While the stormy eight-year love affair between Colet and Flaubert ended on a sour note, the letters they exchanged are among the most evocative and poignant of all romantic correspondence I have read. Flaubert noted about his writing that he always looked for just the right word. The letters he wrote to Colet are playful and serious, tender and teasing… Scent plays an important part in how Flaubert saw his beloved, and references to her perfume fill the pages. Below are a few excerpts, which focus on fragrance and perfumed references.

August 6: “I look at your slippers, your handkerchief, your hair, your portrait. I reread your letters and breathe their musky perfume.
August 9: I’ll take another look at your slippers again… I think I love them as much as I do you… I breathe their perfume, they smell of verbena–and of you in a way that makes my heart swell.

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An excerpt from Annick Le Guérer’s excellent book Scent: the Mysterious and Essential Powers of Smell, co-authored with Philip Turner and Richard Miller. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the link between scents and sensuality.

“Throughout history there has been a link between perfumes and desire. When Circe sets out to seduce Ulysses, she employs powerful aromatic philtres. When the Queen of Sheba travels to Jerusalem, she seeks help in her campaign to win Solomon’s heart from the precious gums and spices of Araby she brings with her in her great caravan: “And she gave the king… of spices very great store… there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.” In this linkage of perfumes to sexuality and seduction we can discern two functions, both of which lead to a single result: the encouragement of sexual union.

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Maurice Roucel is a perfumer whose work I admire for its originality, boldness and unapologetic sensuality, which are clear even in his “big brand” creations. He is the author of Hermès 24, Faubourg, Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur and Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist, among many others. The following is an excerpt from a fantastic book by Clara Molloy called 22 Perfumers: A Creative Process. It features in-depth interviews with 22 perfumers such as Calice Becker, Dominique Ropion, Olivier Polge, Alberto Morillas, Annick Menardo and many others. The book is available in French and English editions and can be found on Clara Molloy’s website.

How did you enter the perfume industry?
At the time, when I started out in 1973, there were only people from Grasse in the perfume industry. I was born in Cherbourg. I arrived in Paris with my parents at the age of 5 and I stayed there. I was passionate about organic chemistry and theoretical physics. In 1973, Henri Robert, the creator of “No 19” by Chanel, hired me to develop a chromatography laboratory. I spent 6 years with Chanel. While I was there, I learned the profession of perfumer by myself; I was self-taught. But I still love organic chemistry, which I find extremely creative! For me, creation is everywhere. Anything can be creative. In my career, I’ve even found myself working on a shampoo. I find it refreshing to have a look elsewhere. There are also surprises in soaps and detergents. Today, it’s clear that in fine perfumery there are more resources, time–sometimes–and a broader scope.

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