Writing about perfume, and smells in general, is one of the greatest challenges for a journalist/author: how to evoke scents, with words…? But over the years, quite a few have done so very, very successfully. And if you want to build a ‘perfume bookshelf’, to deepen your knowledge of perfumery, start here…
We’ve awarded each title stars out of five, as a guide to which we think are the most important, and the all-round best reads. Nothing less than a three-star book is feataured here, though – so we reckon any of them are a worthwhile read.
As you become ever-more-obsessed (and we know how that feels), you may want to add to your collection – and of course, we’ll add to this section whenever new releases catch our eye…
We’d always prefer you support an independent bookstore rather than One-Clicking on Amazon – these indie stores can happily order most in-print books. However, in a super-busy world, we know it isn’t always practical. (And if you’re happy to buy secondhand – most titles are available via Amazon – this does often support smaller bookstores.)
Looking for out-of-print perfume titles in secondhand bookstores can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, meanwhile. If you’re in a hurry, we generally recommend abebooks.com, which links thousands of secondhand bookstores around the world, while Amazon can be a source for remaindered books…
A History of Scent, by Roy Genders. The perfume historian’s go-to book, looking in-depth at how perfume evolved from Ancient Egypt through Roman times, the mystical fragrances of the east, the scents of early England via the Elizabethans and Stuarts. Published in 1972, if you get your hands on a copy it may well smell authentically musty, but nevertheless it’s packed with extraordinary, fragrant factoids.
A Scented World: The Magic of Fragrances, by Claire Bingham.
Have you ever wondered about where – and how – the creators of perfumes live and work? Interiors journalist Claire Bingham went behind the scenes to talk to different perfumers, brand owners and creatives, visiting their homes and studios, from 'nose' Barnabé Fillon to Fragonard's Agnes Costa via Tom Daxon and Chris Yu of United Perfumes/Ostens, among the dozens of interviewees featured in this large format, lavishly-photographed book. The text, you might want to know, is in three different languages: French and German, as well as English – so taking that into account, at the end of the day this is more visual than verbal.
Atomizer poems by Elizabeth A.I. Powell [published by LSU Press]
A professor of writing and literature at Northern Vermont University, Elizabeth Powell writes poems that immerse us in what fellow author Dianne Seuss describes as 'the perfumery of seduction.' Harnessing her sense of smell and recalling often painful memories through scented snapshots, we are plunged into her world, seeing the world not only through her eyes, but through Powell's nose. The fact that fragrance and memory are so entwined is now far better known – and scientifically proven – but here, we share scenes in which the narrator weilds her perfume like a weapon:
I hold my atomizer like a lightsaber. I am learning the kung fu of demure.
I have mastered the koan of coy.
Later in the first poem in this collection, which is split in to sections of Top, Heart and Base notes; Powell dscribes the bottle itself, and how it's inherently connected to the woman who gave it to her.
My Atomizer's a DeVilbiss Art Deco made of opalescent glass I inherited from my flapper great-aunt, it sprays the world out atom by atom.
(Memory): Like me she feasted on Lorna Doones and linden tea and strange men.
Later, Powell describes the power of scent, because 'Fragrance Summons angels. I desire Proustian angels, different from Episcopalian ones.' She uses scent to summon memories and time travel at will:
Come angels. Olfaction is the evocation of memory. Come angels.
Let the atomizer release the top notes of my story, that which evaporates most
quickly. Let the atomizer do what it does best: release the distance between autobiography and criical analysis.
I have lost time, and I want it back.
A fascinating and emotional collection to delve in to, there's no doubt reading these poems will also make you revisit fragrances that have personal connections to your own memories. We suggest picking up a bottle that reminds you of someone you love, or a time you were truly happy, and allowing the scents to stir those images, as Powell does so movingly in this book.
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