Review: Common and Uncommon Scents by Susan Stewart

One of the perks of being published by Amberley Publishing is that they occasionally send me review copies of new books on their list.

So it was that I recently came to be reading Common and uncommon Scents: A Social History of Perfume by Susan Stewart.

Everything about this book is sumptuous, not least the cover. It has clearly been well researched but is so easy to read; more, it's a joy to read.

The author takes us from the ancient world right through to the 21st century, and leaves out no aspect of perfume and scent history. There is evidence from a cuneiform tablet from 1239BC, of a perfume maker. What is remarkable is that not only are we told the name of this perfume maker, we know that she was female. In a temple dedicated to the Egyptian god, Horus, there is a perfume formula written on the wall, and it gives the exact quantities for the the ingredients required to make the perfume.  We are told that Ovid was an admirer of perfume and cosmetics, but that Cicero considered perfume an unnecessary extravagance.

Moving into the medieval period, we discover that Zoe, who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century converted part of her palace into a perfume workshop. Not much surprise, I suppose, that her interest in lotions and potions led to accusations of poison...

There is a great deal of information about distillation techniques, aromatics generally, and Hildegard of Bingen advocated the use of aromatic vapour baths. There is information too about scenting the home, including the floor rushes, and fragrancing food and drink. We also learn how the pomander became popular as a fad.

During the Renaissance, the famous glass blowers of Murano made brightly coloured bottles for the perfume made by the master perfume makers of Venice.

Come the 17th century, perfume played a part in the treatment and prevention of plague. This, like so many sections of the book, contains many original recipes for scents. Apparently Louis XIV's court was known as The Perfumed Court, such was his love of scent - he even had scented fountains - and by the 18th century perfume sales increased through the power of advertising. Of course the elaborate wigs of this era were perfumed and this was the era of the first perfume houses.

It had not occurred to me but it was, apparently, only in the 19th century that perfumes began to be known by devised names, rather than 'lavender water' etc. One of the earliest was called 'Stolen Kisses'!

The book ends with look at how perfume brands really took off in the 20th century and reminds us of some of the famous 'taglines' and there's a brief mention of the 21st century where, of course, scent is really all around, from perfumes to aromatherapy roll-ons to room diffusers.

That's a brief round-up of some of the highlights for me, but I said at the beginning of this review that the book is a joy to read and one of the joys was that every aspect of scent - its manufacture and its uses - is explored: beliefs about health benefits, societal connotations, fragrance in clothing - gloves, wigs, dresses - and around the home. Also covered in great detail is the history of the growing of the plants which went (and still go) into perfume manufacture, and how these were traded.

For all that, this is a very light and accessible read. The author has clearly researched every aspect of perfume and scent, but the result of that research is a book which is fascinating for the general reader. Highly recommended.

Available in hardback from all good bookshops and from Amazon