Radler Parfums — The Library of Historic Texts

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What the access labels mean

FREE FULL TEXT 112: The whole work can be read, and usually downloaded, at the host without an account. The rights line says what the host itself states about it.
FREE TO READ 12: The text can be read online at no cost, but the host keeps its rights: there is no open licence.
BORROW ONLY 33: The host lends a scanned copy to one reader at a time; borrowing needs a free account with the host.
IN COPYRIGHT 11: In copyright and not free online. The link goes to the publisher or to a library catalogue that holds it.
NOT DIGITISED 1: No digital copy was found when the link was checked. The link goes to a library catalogue that holds the printed work.

Station 1 Origin 25

Where the materials grow and how they travelled: botany, field reports, travel accounts and the incense trade. The station on the site

Antiquity (to 500)

Africa & the Indian Ocean

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean
Anonymous; tr. and ed. Wilfred H. Schoff · 1st century AD · this edition 1912
New York: Longmans, Green, 1912 (Cornell University Library copy) · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A merchant’s guide to the ports of the Red Sea, southern Arabia and India, written in Greek in the 1st century AD, listing what each harbour bought and sold. It places the frankincense country on the south Arabian coast and says how the harvest was gathered under guard and shipped. Wilfred Schoff’s translation adds a long commentary on the trade goods, sandalwood and aloes among them.
On record here frankincense sandalwood oil
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

The History of Herodotus, vol. 1
Herodotus; tr. G. C. Macaulay · c. 430 BC · this edition 1890
Macaulay translation (London: Macmillan, 1890), Project Gutenberg transcription · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Project Gutenberg Wayback copy of the link
Book III of the Histories ends with Herodotus’s account of Arabia as the country of frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon and ledanon. He passes on the tales of winged serpents guarding the frankincense trees and of ledanon combed from the beards of he-goats that browse the cistus. This is G. C. Macaulay’s translation of 1890, transcribed by Project Gutenberg.
On record here frankincense labdanum absolute
Rights “Public domain in the USA.” (the Project Gutenberg ebook page (its Copyright row)) · checked 2026-10-08
Enquiry into Plants and Minor Works on Odours and Weather Signs, vol. II
Theophrastus; tr. Arthur Hort · c. 300 BC · this edition 1916
Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1916 · Greek with English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The second Loeb volume of Theophrastus holds the last books of his Enquiry into Plants, where he sets down what the Greeks knew of frankincense, myrrh and the other aromatic gums of Arabia, and his short treatise Concerning Odours. That treatise explains how perfumes were compounded from flowers, roots and spices, which oils hold a scent well, and why some scents last longer than others. Greek text with Arthur Hort’s facing English translation.
On record here frankincense orris butter rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1450–1799

Mediterranean & Near East

Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses mémorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Égypte, Arabie et autres pays estranges
Pierre Belon · 1553
Paris: Gilles Corrozet, 1553 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
The naturalist Pierre Belon travelled through Greece, Crete, Egypt, Arabia and the Levant in the 1540s and wrote down what he saw of plants, animals and trades. On Crete he describes how ladanum, the resin of the cistus shrub, was gathered. The 1553 Paris edition.
On record here labdanum absolute
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08
Relation d’un voyage du Levant, fait par ordre du Roy, vol. I
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort · 1717
Lyon: Anisson et Posuel, 1717 (Missouri Botanical Garden copy, via the Biodiversity Heritage Library) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort’s account of his journey through the Greek islands, Constantinople, Armenia and Persia in 1700–1702, written as letters to the minister Pontchartrain. In the letters from Crete he describes the gathering of ladanum from the cistus with a rake of leather thongs, and the engravings show the tool. This is volume I of the Lyon edition of 1717.
On record here labdanum absolute
Rights “http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India
Garcia da Orta; tr. Sir Clements Markham · 1563 · this edition 1913
London: Henry Sotheran, 1913, from the Conde de Ficalho edition · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Dialogues printed at Goa in 1563 in which the Portuguese physician Garcia da Orta talks through the drugs and spices of the Indian trade with a visitor. His colloquies on lign-aloes (agarwood) and on the three kinds of sandalwood record what the Portuguese learned of their sources, grades and prices. Sir Clements Markham’s English translation of 1913.
On record here agarwood oil sandalwood oil
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Herbarium Amboinense, vol. II
Georg Eberhard Rumpf (Rumphius); ed. Johannes Burman · c. 1690 · this edition 1741
Amsterdam: Changuion, Catuffe & Uytwerf, 1741 (Missouri Botanical Garden copy) · Latin and Dutch
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The second volume of Rumphius’s herbal of Ambon, compiled in the Dutch East Indies in the late seventeenth century and printed long after his death. It holds his accounts of the sandalwood tree and of the agarwood trees and their resin, with the trade names, grades and engraved plates, in Latin and Dutch side by side.
On record here sandalwood oil agarwood oil
Rights “http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Vanilla Culture as Practiced in the Seychelles Islands
S. J. Galbraith · 1898
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Botany, Bulletin 21, Washington, 1898 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A short United States Department of Agriculture report on how vanilla was grown in the Seychelles at the end of the nineteenth century. It covers the living supports, the pruning, the hand-pollination of each flower and the curing of the pods.
On record here cured vanilla pods
Rights “The contributing institution believes that this item is not in copyright.” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

Britain

A Popular History of British Lichens
W. Lauder Lindsay · 1856
London: Lovell Reeve, 1856 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A Victorian naturalist’s account of the lichens of Britain, their structure and their uses. A section on lichens in perfumery describes species once ground into the hair powders and perfumes of the seventeenth century; the oak lichen from which oakmoss is now extracted (here Physcia prunastri) is among the species described.
On record here oakmoss absolute
Rights “Not in copyright. The BHL knows of no copyright restrictions on this item.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

Low Countries

On the Production of Vanilla in Europe
Charles Morren · 1839
Annals of Natural History vol. 3, 1839 (BioStor article) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The Belgian botanist Charles Morren reports how the vanilla orchid in the hothouses of Liège was made to set fruit by pollinating its flowers by hand. He argues that vanilla could be grown wherever the insect that pollinates it at home is missing, the problem that hand-pollination later solved on plantations far from Mexico.
On record here cured vanilla pods
Rights “http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/” (the licence field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

La flore pharaonique d’après les documents hiéroglyphiques et les spécimens découverts dans les tombes
Victor Loret · 1892
2nd edition, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1892 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A catalogue of the plants of ancient Egypt drawn from hieroglyphic texts and from specimens found in tombs, each with its Egyptian name. It is a reference for the aromatic plants and resins that appear in Egyptian sources, frankincense among them.
On record here frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Culture et préparation de la vanille
Charles Chalot, with U. Bernard · 1920
Paris: Émile Larose, 1920 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
Charles Chalot’s guide, written with U. Bernard, to growing and preparing vanilla in the French colonies, from planting and hand-pollination to the curing of the pods. It reflects the colonial agriculture of 1920.
On record here cured vanilla pods
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

East Asia

Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of Civilization in Ancient Iran
Berthold Laufer · 1919
Field Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Series vol. 15 no. 3, Chicago, 1919 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Berthold Laufer traced how cultivated plants and goods passed between Iran and China, reading Chinese records beside Persian and Arabic ones. His chapters on jasmine and on the aromatics follow the names and routes by which they reached China.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Vanilla Cultivation in Hawaii
Frank E. Conter · 1903
Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, Press Bulletin 6, 1903 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A press bulletin of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station on whether and how vanilla might be grown in the islands. It goes from choosing cuttings and shade to pollinating the flowers by hand.
On record here cured vanilla pods
Rights “The contributing institution believes that this item is not in copyright.” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Wild Volatile-Oil Plants and Their Economic Importance
Frank Rabak · 1912
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 235, Washington, 1912 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A United States Department of Agriculture survey of wild American plants that yield volatile oils. It notes the oils each gives and asks whether gathering them could support a trade.
Rights “The contributing institution believes that this item is not in copyright.” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

The Commercial Products of India
Sir George Watt · 1908
London: John Murray, 1908 (University of Toronto copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
George Watt’s one-volume abridgement of his Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, arranged by plant name. Its entries on sandalwood, khas-khas (vetiver), agar or eaglewood (agarwood) and the Indian rose and its attar give the colonial record of where each was grown, how it was traded and what it fetched.
On record here sandalwood oil vetiver oil agarwood oil rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Frankincense and Myrrh: A Study of the Arabian Incense Trade
Nigel Groom · 1981
London: Longman; Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1981 · English
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Nigel Groom’s study of the frankincense and myrrh trade of ancient Arabia: the trees and their harvest, the caravan routes and the ports. He reads the classical writers against his own knowledge of southern Arabia.
On record here frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

International

Vetiver Grass: A Thin Green Line Against Erosion
National Research Council · 1993
Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1993 · English
FREE TO READ Read it at National Academies Press Wayback copy of the link
A National Research Council report on vetiver grass as a living hedge against soil erosion in the tropics. It describes the plant, its deep roots (the source of vetiver oil) and its use on farms and roadsides from India to the Caribbean.
On record here vetiver oil
Rights “© 2026 National Academy of Sciences” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Vanilla Culture in Puerto Rico
Norman F. Childers, Héctor R. Cibes and Ernesto Hernández-Medina · 1948
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Experiment Station in Puerto Rico, Circular 28, 1948 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A United States Department of Agriculture circular on growing and curing vanilla in Puerto Rico, from planting and hand-pollination to the sweating and drying that develop vanillin in the bean. It sets out the experiment station’s own trials in detail.
On record here cured vanilla pods vanillin
Rights “The contributing institution believes that this item is not in copyright.” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Continuous resin tapping for frankincense harvest increases susceptibility of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst trees to insect attack
Alemayehu Negussie and colleagues · 2021
Heliyon 7 (2021) e06250 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A field study in Ethiopia of Boswellia papyrifera, a frankincense tree, comparing trees tapped year after year with trees given rest. The continuously tapped trees were attacked more often by wood-boring insects, which bears on how the resin can be harvested without losing the trees.
On record here frankincense
Rights “cc by-nc-nd” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
Genome structure and evolutionary history of frankincense producing Boswellia sacra
Abdul Latif Khan and colleagues · 2022
iScience 25 (2022) 104574 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
The genome of Boswellia sacra, the frankincense tree of southern Arabia, with its evolutionary history and the genetic diversity of trees in the wild. Wounding the bark switches on the pathways that make the resin’s terpenoids, boswellic acid among them.
On record here frankincense
Rights “cc by-nc-nd” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

East Asia

Deciphering the roles of bacterial and fungal communities in the formation and quality of agarwood
Chen-Chen Fu and colleagues · 2024
Stress Biology 4 (2024) 40 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A study of the bacteria and fungi living in the wounded wood of Aquilaria trees while agarwood forms. It compares the microbial communities of agarwood of different grades and discusses their part in making the fragrant resin.
On record here agarwood oil
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

International

A chromosome-level, haplotype-phased Vanilla planifolia genome highlights the challenge of partial endoreplication for accurate whole-genome assembly
Quentin Piet and colleagues · 2022
Plant Communications 3 (2022) 100330 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
The genome of Vanilla planifolia, the vanilla orchid of commerce, assembled chromosome by chromosome. The paper explains how the plant’s partial endoreplication, in which parts of the genome are copied more often than others, made it hard to assemble.
On record here cured vanilla pods
Rights “cc by-nc-nd” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

Genetic diversity analysis in a mini core collection of Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) germplasm from Iran using URP and SCoT markers
Akram Sadat Mostafavi and colleagues · 2021
Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology 19 (2021) 144 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A genetic study of damask roses collected across Iran, using DNA markers to measure how different the cultivated plants are from one another. It bears on the origin of the rose behind rose water and rose oil and on the choice of plants for breeding.
On record here rose otto rose absolute
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

Heart of the Matter: Agarwood Use and Trade and CITES Implementation for Aquilaria malaccensis
Angela Barden, Noorainie Awang Anak, Teresa Mulliken and Michael Song · 2000
Cambridge: TRAFFIC International, 2000 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at TRAFFIC Wayback copy of the link
A TRAFFIC report on the trade in agarwood after Aquilaria malaccensis was listed in Appendix II of CITES in 1995. It surveys the harvest, the trade routes and the controls in ten countries, from India and Bhutan to Singapore and Vietnam.
On record here agarwood oil
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

Station 2 Material 15

The materials themselves: monographs, trade reports and reference works, and the laws on what may go into a bottle. The station on the site

1800–1899

Britain

Pharmacographia: A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin Met with in Great Britain and British India
Friedrich A. Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury · 1874 · this edition 1879
2nd edition, London: Macmillan, 1879 (University of Toronto copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Friedrich Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury trace each vegetable drug of the British and Indian trade through its botany, history, production and commerce. Several entries concern perfumery materials: olibanum (frankincense), sandalwood, vanilla and the oil of roses. This is the second edition of 1879.
On record here frankincense sandalwood oil cured vanilla pods rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Odorographia: A Natural History of Raw Materials and Drugs Used in the Perfume Industry, vol. I
J. Ch. Sawer · 1892
London: Gurney & Jackson, 1892 (New York Botanical Garden copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume I of John Charles Sawer’s natural history of the raw materials of perfumery, each followed from its source through harvest and trade to its adulterations. The long articles on vanilla and the tonka bean, on sandalwood and on the animal musks fill much of this volume.
On record here cured vanilla pods sandalwood oil vanillin Coumarin
Rights “http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions/” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Odorographia: A Natural History of Raw Materials and Drugs Used in the Perfume Industry, second series
J. Ch. Sawer · 1894
London: Gurney & Jackson, 1894 (New York Botanical Garden copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The second series of Sawer’s Odorographia carries the survey on through further plant materials, among them labdanum, lavender, bergamot and the rose. Like volume I, it joins botany and trade to the perfumer’s practical knowledge of grades and fraud.
On record here labdanum absolute lavender essential oil bergamot essential oil rose otto
Rights “http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions/” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

The Volatile Oils
E. Gildemeister and Fr. Hoffmann; tr. Edward Kremers · 1899 · this edition 1900
Milwaukee: Pharmaceutical Review Publishing Co., 1900 (authorised English translation) · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The English translation of Die ätherischen Öle, the survey of essential oils written by two chemists of Schimmel & Co. in Leipzig. After a history of distillation and of the oil trade it describes each oil in turn: its plant, its production, its properties and its constituents.
On record here lavender essential oil sandalwood oil rose otto bergamot essential oil vetiver oil orris butter geraniol Citral linalool Eugenol Limonene
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

German-speaking Europe

Semi-Annual Report of Schimmel & Co. (Fritzsche Brothers), 1910–1911
Schimmel & Co. · 1910 · this edition 1911
Miltitz near Leipzig and New York: Schimmel & Co., 1910–1911 (bound reports) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The twice-yearly reports of Schimmel & Co., the essential-oil house at Miltitz near Leipzig, reviewed each oil’s harvest, price, adulteration and new chemistry. This bound copy covers October 1910 to October 1911.
On record here sandalwood oil bergamot essential oil lavender essential oil geraniol linalool α-santalol Limonene
Rights “Not in copyright. The BHL knows of no copyright restrictions on this item.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Act of June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040)
United States Congress · 1938
United States Statutes at Large vol. 52, p. 1040 (scan served by GovInfo) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at GovInfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office) Wayback copy of the link
The United States law of 1938 that placed cosmetics beside food and drugs under federal regulation and forbade adulterated or misbranded cosmetics in interstate commerce. Its definition of a cosmetic covers perfume. In the United States, the rules for fragrance still rest on this Act as amended.
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

Europe (EU)

Council Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products
Council of the European Communities · 1976
Official Journal L 262, 27.9.1976 (text as served by the Publications Office of the EU) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Publications Office of the European Union
The Council Directive that harmonised the rules for cosmetic products across the European Economic Community, with annexes of substances prohibited, restricted or allowed under conditions. Perfumes fall within its definition of a cosmetic product. It was amended many times before Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 replaced it.
On record here Regulation
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The Essential Oils (one volume of the six)
Ernest Guenther · 1948 · this edition 1949
New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1948–1952 in six volumes; the volume lent here is dated 1949 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Ernest Guenther’s survey of the essential oils, written from the field work of Fritzsche Brothers in New York, appeared in six volumes between 1948 and 1952: a general part on production and constituents, then the oils plant family by plant family. The Internet Archive lends one volume of the set.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin
Steffen Arctander · 1960
Elizabeth, NJ: published by the author, 1960 · English
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Steffen Arctander’s alphabetical survey of the natural raw materials of perfume and flavour, published by the author in 1960. Each entry says how the material is produced and how it smells, with notes on its uses and adulterants, in the words of a working perfumer and chemist.
On record here rose otto rose absolute jasmine absolute lavender essential oil lavandin essential oil sandalwood oil vetiver oil frankincense bergamot essential oil cured vanilla pods orris butter labdanum absolute oakmoss absolute
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

Britain

The Rose: A True History
Jennifer Potter · 2010
London: Atlantic Books, 2010 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
A cultural history of the rose from antiquity to the present: as a garden plant, a symbol, and the source of rose water and rose oil. Jennifer Potter writes for general readers.
On record here rose otto rose absolute
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Europe (EU)

Directive 2003/15/EC amending Council Directive 76/768/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products
European Parliament and Council · 2003
Official Journal L 66, 11.3.2003 (text as served by the Publications Office of the EU) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Publications Office of the European Union
The seventh amendment of the European Cosmetics Directive. Among other changes it required 26 fragrance substances, oakmoss and treemoss extracts among them, to be named in the list of ingredients when present above 0.001 % in products left on the skin or 0.01 % in products rinsed off, and it set a timetable for ending animal testing of cosmetics in the EU.
On record here oakmoss absolute Citral Coumarin Eugenol geraniol Isoeugenol Hydroxycitronellal Limonene linalool citronellol hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde butylphenyl methylpropional
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

International

IFRA Code of Practice
International Fragrance Association (IFRA) · 2023
web page and downloadable text, as published by IFRA · English
FREE TO READ Read it at IFRA Wayback copy of the link
The code that members of the International Fragrance Association undertake to follow, with the obligations on safe use that stand behind the IFRA Standards. IFRA is an industry body: its Standards are not law in the United States, though the laws of some other jurisdictions refer to them.
Rights “Copyright © 2026 IFRA” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08

Italy & Iberia

Cistus ladanifer L.: Essential Oils, Volatiles, By-Products, and Their Biological Properties
Custódia Gago and colleagues · 2025
Molecules 30 (2025) 4425 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central
A review of the chemistry of Cistus ladanifer, the rock rose behind labdanum: its essential oil, its resin and other volatiles, and what is made of the by-products of their extraction. It gathers analyses from across the plant’s Mediterranean range.
On record here labdanum absolute
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Vanilla
Patricia Rain · 2004
New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2004 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Patricia Rain’s history of vanilla from its use in Mesoamerica to the plantations of the Indian Ocean and the arrival of synthetic vanillin. It is written for general readers, with the growers’ side of the trade in view.
On record here cured vanilla pods vanillin
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328, Division FF, Title III, Subtitle E)
United States Congress · 2022
Public Law 117-328, 136 Stat. 4459 (PDF served by GovInfo) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at GovInfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office) Wayback copy of the link
The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 amended the 1938 Act for the United States: it requires facility registration, product listing, safety substantiation and adverse-event reporting, and directs the FDA to make rules for labelling fragrance allergens. The link opens the whole appropriations law, in which MoCRA is Division FF, Title III, Subtitle E.
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

Station 3 Extraction 13

How scent is taken from the plant: distillation books, enfleurage, solvent extraction and curing. The station on the site

1450–1799

Britain

The Art of Distillation
John French · 1651 · this edition 1667
4th edition, London: E. Cotes for T. Williams, 1667 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
John French’s English treatise on distillation, with directions for distilled waters, spirits, oils and essences and engravings of the furnaces and stills. This copy is the London edition of 1667.
On record here lavender essential oil
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Liber de arte distillandi de compositis (Das Buch der waren Kunst zu distillieren die Composita und Simplicia)
Hieronymus Brunschwig · 1512
Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger, 1512 (U.S. National Library of Medicine copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Hieronymus Brunschwig’s book on distilling compound waters, printed at Strasbourg in 1512 with many woodcuts of furnaces and stills. It follows his earlier book on distilling single plants and shows the apparatus of a Renaissance distiller’s workshop.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

Italy & Iberia

De distillatione libri IX
Giambattista della Porta · 1608
Rome: Camera Apostolica, 1608 (Countway Library of Medicine copy) · Latin
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Giambattista della Porta’s nine books on distillation, printed in Rome in 1608 with woodcuts of the vessels. He explains how to draw waters and oils from flowers, woods, seeds and gums, and how the shape of a still should suit each material.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Africa & the Indian Ocean

La vanille, sa culture et sa préparation
Arthur Delteil · 1874 · this edition 1902
5th edition, Paris: Augustin Challamel, 1902 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
Arthur Delteil’s handbook for planters on growing and curing vanilla in the French colonies, here in its fifth edition. It covers the vine and its supports, hand-pollination, and the scalding, sweating and drying of the pods.
On record here cured vanilla pods vanillin
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Die Toiletten-Chemie
Heinrich Hirzel · 1857 · this edition 1874
3rd edition, Leipzig: J. J. Weber, 1874 (University of Toronto copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Heinrich Hirzel’s handbook of toilet chemistry for German perfumers and druggists: the raw materials and their extraction, then the making of scented waters, extracts, pomades and soaps. This is the third edition of 1874.
On record here lavender essential oil jasmine absolute sandalwood oil bergamot essential oil cured vanilla pods rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

France

Distillation des plantes aromatiques et des parfums
René-Maurice Gattefossé · 1926
Paris: Librairie centrale des sciences, Desforges, Girardot et Cie, 1926 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
René-Maurice Gattefossé’s manual on distilling aromatic plants, written for the growers and distillers of the lavender country of south-eastern France. It covers the stills, the handling of the plant, and the separation and keeping of the oils.
On record here lavender essential oil
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08
Les parfums: chimie et industrie
Paul Jeancard · 1927
Paris, 1927 (the record names no publisher) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Paul Jeancard, an engineer of the École centrale, surveys how perfume materials were made in the 1920s: the growing of flowers, distillation, enfleurage and extraction with volatile solvents, and the chemistry of the synthetic odorants that joined them. It shows the natural and the synthetic sides of the trade working together.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

The Volatile Oils, vol. I
E. Gildemeister and Fr. Hoffmann; tr. Edward Kremers · 1913
2nd edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1913 (University of Toronto copy) · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume I of the second English edition of Gildemeister and Hoffmann holds the general part of their survey: the history of distillation and of the essential-oil industry, the methods of production, and the chemistry of the main constituents. The later volumes take the oils one by one.
On record here Citral geraniol citronellol linalool Limonene
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The Chemistry of Commerce: A Simple Interpretation of Some New Chemistry in Its Relation to Modern Industry
Robert Kennedy Duncan · 1907
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1907 (University of Toronto copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Robert Kennedy Duncan’s popular account of the new chemistry at work in industry. Its chapter “Floral Perfumes: the Land and the Laboratory” describes the flower harvest at Grasse, the ways of taking the scent from the flowers and the rise of synthetic odorants. Margaret Tucker’s review of that chapter is on this shelf.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete lavender essential oil
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Floral Perfumes
Margaret Tucker · 1910
Torreya 10 (1910), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A review, written for teachers, of the perfumery chapter of Robert Kennedy Duncan’s The Chemistry of Commerce. It walks through the flower harvest at Grasse, the ways of taking the scent from the flowers (steam distillation, cold enfleurage, hot maceration and extraction with solvents) and the new synthetic odorants.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete lavender essential oil
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

France

Natural Perfume Materials: A Study of Concretes, Resinoids, Floral Oils and Pomades
Y. R. Naves and G. Mazuyer; tr. Edward Sagarin · 1947
New York: Reinhold, 1947 · English translation
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Yves-René Naves and Gabriel Mazuyer explain how the floral products of the Grasse industry are made and analysed: concretes and absolutes from volatile solvents, the pomades of enfleurage and the resinoids of gums and balsams. Edward Sagarin’s English translation of their French study.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete rose absolute
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Lavande et lavandin: leur culture et leur économie en France
G. André de Réparaz · 1965
Gap: Éditions Ophrys, 1965 (Mémoires et documents, no. 46) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
A geographer’s study of lavender and lavandin in France in the 1960s: where they were grown, how the distilleries and the market worked, and how lavandin had come to fill much of the land once given to lavender. Gallica holds a scan under restricted conditions of use.
On record here lavender essential oil lavandin essential oil
Rights “conditions spécifiques d'utilisation - Projet de numérisation des indisponibles / restricted use” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

North America

Influence of Traditional Vanilla Curing on Its Physicochemical Properties and Aromatic Profile
Iván J. Pérez-Viveros and colleagues · 2025
Foods 14 (2025) 1652 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A Mexican study of the traditional curing of vanilla beans, measuring how moisture, colour and the aroma compounds change as the green pods are killed, sweated and dried. Vanillin and the other volatiles are followed through each stage.
On record here cured vanilla pods vanillin
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

Station 4 Molecule 26

The chemistry of odorants: the analyses and syntheses behind the molecules on record. The station on the site

1800–1899

Britain

On the artificial production of coumarin and formation of its homologues
W. H. Perkin · 1868
Journal of the Chemical Society 21 (1868) 53–63 (the volume as scanned for the Internet Archive’s periodicals collection) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
William Henry Perkin’s paper on making coumarin, the scent of tonka beans and new-mown hay, in the laboratory from salicylaldehyde. It is the synthesis behind the coumarin of Fougère Royale. The link opens the whole 1868 volume of the Journal of the Chemical Society.
On record here Coumarin
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
The Chemistry of Essential Oils and Artificial Perfumes
Ernest J. Parry · 1899
London: Scott, Greenwood & Co., 1899 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Ernest Parry’s chemistry of the essential oils and of the new synthetic odorants, written for analysts and manufacturers in Britain. It describes the constituents of each oil and the tests for its purity, then the artificial perfumes of the day.
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Les huiles essentielles et leurs principaux constituants
Eugène Charabot, J. Dupont and L. Pillet · 1899
Paris: Ch. Béranger, 1899 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A study of the essential oils through their principal constituents, arranged by chemical family rather than by plant: the terpenes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, phenols and esters that give each oil its character. Its three authors were French chemists of the 1890s.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Ueber das Coniferin und seine Umwandlung in das aromatische Princip der Vanille
Ferd. Tiemann and Wilh. Haarmann · 1874
Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft 7 (1874), January–June volume (Harvard copy, digitised by Google) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann show that coniferin, a glucoside in the sap of conifers, can be split and oxidised to vanillin, the odorant of vanilla. Their process became the basis of Haarmann’s vanillin works at Holzminden. The link opens the January–June 1874 volume of the Berichte.
On record here cured vanilla pods vanillin
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

France

Les parfums artificiels
Eugène Charabot · 1900
Paris: J.-B. Baillière et fils, 1900 (Wellcome Library copy) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The French chemist Eugène Charabot surveys the synthetic odorants available in 1900: vanillin, coumarin, heliotropin, the ionones, the artificial musks and others, with their preparation and properties. It is a snapshot of the synthetic palette a few years after the arrival of the ionones.
On record here vanillin Coumarin Musk ketone Citral
Rights “It is possible this Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Ueber das Vorkommen des Phenyläthylalkohols in Rosenölen
H. von Soden and W. Rojahn · 1900
Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft 33 (1900), part 3 (University of Illinois copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Hugo von Soden and W. Rojahn report phenylethyl alcohol in rose oils. It dissolves in the distillation water, so it is scarce in the steam-distilled oil and plentiful in rose water and in rose extracted with solvents. The link opens part 3 of the 1900 volume of the Berichte.
On record here rose otto rose absolute 2-phenylethyl alcohol
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
Die Riechstoffe
Georg Cohn · 1904
Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1904 · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Georg Cohn’s account of odorous substances arranged by chemical constitution, with an attempt to relate the groups in a molecule to its smell. It belongs to the early theories linking odour to structure.
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Die ätherischen Öle nach ihren chemischen Bestandteilen, vol. 1
F. W. Semmler · 1906
Leipzig: Veit & Comp., 1906 (Wellcome Library copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume 1 of Friedrich Wilhelm Semmler’s four-volume treatise on the chemical constituents of essential oils, by a chemist who worked on many of the terpenes himself. This volume covers the open-chain constituents, among them geraniol, linalool, citronellol and citral.
On record here geraniol linalool citronellol Citral
Rights “It is possible this Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Terpene und Campher
Otto Wallach · 1909
Leipzig: Veit & Comp., 1909 · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Otto Wallach’s summary of his decades of work on the terpenes and camphors, the hydrocarbons and their relatives that make up much of the essential oils. The research it sums up won him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1910.
On record here Limonene α-terpineol
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Alicyclic compounds (Nobel Lecture)
Otto Wallach · 1910
Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1910, as published by the Nobel Foundation · English translation
FREE TO READ Read it at NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach) Wayback copy of the link
Otto Wallach’s Nobel lecture on the alicyclic compounds, the ring-shaped molecules that include the terpenes of essential oils. He describes how he sorted the confused terpenes of commerce into defined substances.
On record here Limonene
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

International

Multimembered rings, higher terpene compounds and male sex hormones (Nobel Lecture)
Leopold Ružička · 1945
Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1945 (for the 1939 prize), as published by the Nobel Foundation · English
FREE TO READ Read it at NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach) Wayback copy of the link
Leopold Ružička’s Nobel lecture on the large carbon rings he found in the musk odorants muscone and civetone, on the higher terpenes, and on the sex hormones. It explains how rings of fifteen and seventeen carbon atoms were shown to exist and then made in the laboratory.
Rights none stated on the page or in the document as served · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

International

Isolement et détermination de la structure du jasmonate de méthyle, constituant odorant caractéristique de l’essence de jasmin
E. Demole, E. Lederer and D. Mercier · 1962
Helvetica Chimica Acta 45 (1962) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Wiley)
Edouard Demole, Edgar Lederer and D. Mercier isolate methyl jasmonate from jasmine and determine its structure, naming one of the constituents that give jasmine its characteristic odour. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete (-)-Methyl jasmonate
Rights “http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Wiley)) · checked 2026-10-08
Synthèse du dihydrojasmonate de méthyle (pentyl-2-oxo-3-cyclopentylacétate de méthyle)
E. Demole, E. Lederer and D. Mercier · 1962
Helvetica Chimica Acta 45 (1962) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Wiley)
The synthesis of methyl dihydrojasmonate, the saturated relative of methyl jasmonate, published beside the paper on its isolation. Firmenich later sold the molecule as Hedione. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
On record here methyl dihydrojasmonate
Rights “http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Wiley)) · checked 2026-10-08
US Patent 3,158,644: Alicyclic ketoesters and process for their manufacture
Edouard Demole and Edgar Lederer (Firmenich) · 1964
United States patent, granted 1964 · English
FREE TO READ Read it at Google Patents Wayback copy of the link
Firmenich’s United States patent, by Edouard Demole and Edgar Lederer, on alicyclic keto-esters, among them methyl 2-pentyl-3-oxocyclopentylacetate: methyl dihydrojasmonate, sold as Hedione. It is the patent behind one of the jasmine molecules on record here.
On record here methyl dihydrojasmonate
Rights Google Patents states no rights on the patent page · checked 2026-10-08
Structure et synthèse de la damascénone, constituant odorant de l’essence de rose bulgare
E. Demole, P. Enggist, U. Säuberli, M. Stoll and E. sz. Kováts · 1970
Helvetica Chimica Acta 53 (1970) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Wiley)
The structure and synthesis of β-damascenone, a trace constituent of Bulgarian rose oil with a very low odour threshold, worked out by chemists at Firmenich. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
On record here rose otto rose absolute β-damascenone
Rights “http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Wiley)) · checked 2026-10-08

Italy & Iberia

The structure of incensole
S. Corsano and R. Nicoletti · 1967
Tetrahedron 23 (1967) · English
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Elsevier BV)
Two Italian chemists determine the structure of incensole, a diterpene alcohol of frankincense resin; its acetate is among the resin’s characteristic constituents. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
On record here frankincense incensole acetate
Rights “https://www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Elsevier BV)) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

US Patent 2,875,131: 4-tert.-butyl alpha-methyl hydrocinnamic aldehyde
Marion S. Carpenter and William M. Easter Jr. (Givaudan Corporation) · 1959
United States patent, filed 1956, granted 1959 · English
FREE TO READ Read it at Google Patents Wayback copy of the link
Givaudan’s United States patent on 4-tert-butyl-α-methylhydrocinnamic aldehyde, the lily-of-the-valley odorant later sold as Lilial and labelled butylphenyl methylpropional. The European Union prohibited it in cosmetic products from 2022.
On record here butylphenyl methylpropional Regulation IFRA Standard: p-tert-Butyl-α-methylhydrocinnamic aldehyde
Rights Google Patents states no rights on the patent page · checked 2026-10-08
US Patent 3,911,018: Novel process and products produced by said process
John B. Hall and James M. Sanders (International Flavors & Fragrances) · 1975
United States patent, filed 1974, granted 1975 · English
FREE TO READ Read it at Google Patents Wayback copy of the link
International Flavors & Fragrances’ patent on a process for octahydro-tetramethyl acetonaphthones, made by joining myrcene to 3-methyl-3-penten-2-one and closing the ring. The mixture of isomers is the woody odorant sold as Iso E Super.
On record here Iso E Super
Rights Google Patents states no rights on the patent page · checked 2026-10-08
US Patent 4,007,137: Process for producing mixture containing 4-(4-methyl-4-hydroxyamyl)Δ3-cyclohexenecarboxaldehyde, product produced and its perfumery uses
James M. Sanders, William L. Schreiber and John B. Hall (International Flavors & Fragrances) · 1977
United States patent, filed 1975, granted 1977 · English
FREE TO READ Read it at Google Patents Wayback copy of the link
International Flavors & Fragrances’ patent on a process for 4-(4-hydroxy-4-methylpentyl)-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde (HICC), described there as having a sweet lilac-lily odour, and on its uses in perfumery. The European Union later prohibited HICC in cosmetic products.
On record here hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde Regulation
Rights Google Patents states no rights on the patent page · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

Terpenoids—LXII (the constitution of agarospirol)
K. R. Varma, M. L. Maheshwari and S. C. Bhattacharyya · 1965
Tetrahedron 21 (1965) · English
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Elsevier BV)
Indian chemists establish the constitution of agarospirol, a sesquiterpene alcohol of agarwood oil, in the sixty-second paper of their series on terpenoids. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
On record here agarwood oil agarospirol
Rights “https://www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Elsevier BV)) · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

East Asia

Cloning and Functional Verification of Genes Related to 2-Phenylethanol Biosynthesis in Rosa rugosa
Lixia Sheng and colleagues · 2018
Genes 9 (2018) 576 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
Researchers clone and test genes of the pathway that makes 2-phenylethanol (phenylethyl alcohol) in Rosa rugosa, a rose grown in China for its oil. The same alcohol is a main constituent of rose water and of rose extracted with solvents.
On record here rose otto rose absolute 2-phenylethyl alcohol
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
Sesquiterpenoids and 2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromone Derivatives from the Resinous Heartwood of Aquilaria sinensis
Shao-Yang Wei and colleagues · 2021
Natural Products and Bioprospecting 11 (2021) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
Chemists isolate and identify sesquiterpenoids and 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones, the two main families of compounds in agarwood, from the resinous heartwood of Aquilaria sinensis. Their structures were worked out by spectroscopy.
On record here agarwood oil
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
The Jasmine (Jasminum sambac) Genome Provides Insight into the Biosynthesis of Flower Fragrances and Jasmonates
Gang Chen and colleagues · 2023
Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 21 (2023) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
The genome of Jasminum sambac, the jasmine of scented tea and garlands, with the genes behind its floral volatiles and its jasmonates. It is a different species from Jasminum grandiflorum, the jasmine grown at Grasse, though much of their scent chemistry is shared.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete (-)-Methyl jasmonate Benzyl acetate linalool
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

International

The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell
Luca Turin · 2006
New York: Ecco, 2006 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Luca Turin’s account, for general readers, of his vibrational theory of smell and of how chemists and perfumers invent new odorants. The theory remains contested among scientists.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Biosynthesis of Sandalwood Oil: Santalum album CYP76F cytochromes P450 produce santalols and bergamotol
Maria L. Diaz-Chavez and colleagues · 2013
PLoS ONE 8 (2013) e75053 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A study of how the sandalwood tree makes its oil: cytochrome P450 enzymes of the CYP76F family that turn the santalenes into the santalols and bergamotol. The genes were found in Santalum album, the Indian sandalwood.
On record here sandalwood oil α-santalol β-santalol
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
Total enzymatic synthesis of cis-α-irone from a simple carbon source
Xixian Chen and colleagues · 2022
Nature Communications 13 (2022) 7421 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
Engineered enzymes make cis-α-irone, the violet-like odorant of aged orris root, from a simple sugar in microbes. It is a route around the years of drying that orris rhizomes need before the irones form.
On record here orris butter α-irone
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

Station 5 Perception 18

How smell works and how it has been studied: physiology, classification, receptors, and how many smells we can tell apart. The station on the site

1800–1899

France

Osphrésiologie, ou Traité des odeurs, du sens et des organes de l’olfaction
Hippolyte Cloquet · 1821
Paris: Méquignon-Marvis, 1821 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Hippolyte Cloquet’s treatise on odours, the sense of smell and the organs of olfaction, written by a Paris anatomist. It gathers what the science of 1821 knew of smell, from the anatomy of the nose to the classing of odours.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

Low Countries

Die Physiologie des Geruchs
Hendrik Zwaardemaker · 1895
Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1895 (Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Hendrik Zwaardemaker’s physiology of smell, which describes his olfactometer for measuring the strength of an odour and proposes a classification of odours in nine classes. The olfactometer set the strength of an odour by the length of an odorous tube exposed to the air drawn into the nose.
Rights “Public domain. The BHL considers that this work is no longer under copyright protection.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

On the Classification of the Sensations of Smell
W. S. Franklin · 1889
Transactions of the Annual Meetings of the Kansas Academy of Science 12 (1889), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A critical paper read to the Kansas Academy of Science on how the sensations of smell might be classified, starting from the theory that each quality of sensation has its own nerve elements. It is a window on the psychology of smell in the 1880s.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
The Applicability of Weber’s Law to Smell
Eleanor Acheson McCulloch Gamble · 1898
The American Journal of Psychology 10 (1898), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Eleanor Gamble tests at Cornell whether Weber’s law, the rule that the just noticeable difference grows with the strength of a stimulus, holds for smell. She works with Zwaardemaker’s olfactometer and discusses the difficulty of measuring a sense whose qualities are hard to pin down.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

Britain

The Chemical Senses
R. W. Moncrieff · 1944 · this edition 1946
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1946 (second edition; first published 1944) · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
R. W. Moncrieff’s survey of the chemical senses, smell and taste, setting out the theories of odour current in the 1940s and the relation between molecular structure and smell. This is the second edition of 1946.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Der Geruch
Hans Henning · 1916
Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1916 · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Hans Henning’s study of smell, which set odours on a prism with six corners: flowery, fruity, spicy, resinous, burnt and foul. It was widely taught and widely criticised.
Rights “http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/” (the licence field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

North America

The Science of Smell
R. H. Wright · 1964
London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
R. H. Wright’s book on the physics and chemistry of smell, including his argument that molecular vibrations play a part in odour. Luca Turin later took up the idea.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Molecular Basis of Odor
John E. Amoore · 1970
Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1970 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
John Amoore’s stereochemical theory of odour, in which the shape and size of a molecule decide which receptor it fits, with the primary odours he proposed. The discovery of the receptor genes later overtook it.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Atlas of Odor Character Profiles (ASTM DS61)
Andrew Dravnieks · 1985
Philadelphia: ASTM, 1985 (publisher’s catalogue page) · English
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: ASTM International Wayback copy of the link
Andrew Dravnieks’s atlas of odour profiles: 160 odorants, each rated by a trained panel against 146 descriptors, published by ASTM. It is still used as a data set in research on how molecules map to smells. In copyright: the link goes to the publisher’s page.
Rights “Copyright © 1996 - 2026 ASTM” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08
A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition
Linda Buck and Richard Axel · 1991
Cell 65 (1991) 175–187 · English
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the publisher (Elsevier BV)
Linda Buck and Richard Axel identify a large family of genes in the rat that encode odorant receptors, the discovery recognised by the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004. In copyright: the link resolves to the publisher’s page.
Rights “https://www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/” (the licence on the publisher’s Crossref record (Elsevier BV)) · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

North America

The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses
Chandler Burr · 2002
New York: Random House, 2002 · English
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Chandler Burr’s story of Luca Turin, his vibrational theory of smell and the scientific argument that followed. It is journalism rather than science, and a portrait of the perfume and flavour industry around 2000.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Scents and sensibility: a molecular logic of olfactory perception (Nobel Lecture)
Richard Axel · 2004
Nobel Lecture, 8 December 2004, as published by the Nobel Foundation · English
FREE TO READ Read it at NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach) Wayback copy of the link
Richard Axel’s Nobel lecture on the logic of the olfactory system: each sensory neuron uses one receptor, and the neurons that share a receptor send their fibres to the same glomeruli of the olfactory bulb. He then asks how the brain reads that map.
Rights “Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2004” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08
Unraveling the sense of smell (Nobel Lecture)
Linda B. Buck · 2004
Nobel Lecture, 8 December 2004, as published by the Nobel Foundation · English
FREE TO READ Read it at NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach) Wayback copy of the link
Linda Buck’s Nobel lecture on how the odorant receptor genes were found and how the signals of single receptors are combined in the nose and brain to represent an odour. It is written for a general scientific audience.
Rights “Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2004” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08
What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life
Avery Gilbert · 2008
New York: Crown, 2008 · English
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Avery Gilbert, a sensory psychologist, on the science of smell in everyday life: how well people identify odours, how smells are named, and how scent is used in commerce and the arts. It is written for general readers and ranges from the laboratory to the market.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Humans can discriminate more than 1 trillion olfactory stimuli
C. Bushdid, M. O. Magnasco, L. B. Vosshall and A. Keller · 2014
Science 343 (2014) 1370–1372 (author manuscript in PubMed Central) · English
FREE TO READ Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
An experiment with mixtures drawn from 128 odorants that estimated humans can tell apart more than a trillion smells. The estimate was challenged in 2015; see the paper by Gerkin and Castro on this shelf.
Rights the Europe PMC record carries no open licence; PubMed Central gives the author manuscript free to read · checked 2026-10-08
The number of olfactory stimuli that humans can discriminate is still unknown
Richard C. Gerkin and Jason B. Castro · 2015
eLife 4 (2015) e08127 · English
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A reanalysis of the trillion-smells estimate showing that it depends on the assumptions of the model more than on the data, so the number of smells humans can tell apart is still unknown. Read it beside the paper it answers.
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
Olfactory perception of chemically diverse molecules
Andreas Keller and Leslie B. Vosshall · 2016
BMC Neuroscience 17 (2016) 55 · English
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A data set of 480 molecules rated by 55 people for intensity, pleasantness and a list of descriptors, released openly for research on predicting smell from structure. Later modelling work, the DREAM olfaction challenge among it, used the data.
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08
A principal odor map unifies diverse tasks in olfactory perception
Brian K. Lee and colleagues · 2023
Science 381 (2023) 999–1006 (author manuscript in PubMed Central) · English
FREE TO READ Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A machine-learning “principal odor map” trained on thousands of molecules and tested against a trained human panel. For new molecules its predicted descriptors agreed with the panel about as well as a single panellist did.
Rights the Europe PMC record carries no open licence; PubMed Central gives the author manuscript free to read · checked 2026-10-08

Station 6 Skin 5

Perfume on the body: cosmetic manuals, and the scientific opinions behind the allergen rules. The station on the site

1800–1899

Britain

The Toilet and Cosmetic Arts in Ancient and Modern Times
Arnold J. Cooley · 1866
London: Robert Hardwicke, 1866 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
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Arnold Cooley’s encyclopaedic survey of cosmetics and the care of the skin, hair and teeth, from antiquity to the Victorian chemist’s shop. A long part of it is given to perfumes and their materials.
On record here rose otto lavender essential oil bergamot essential oil cured vanilla pods jasmine absolute orris butter
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Nouveau manuel du parfumeur-chimiste: les parfums de la toilette et les cosmétiques
Auguste Debay · 1856
Paris: E. Dentu, 1856 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
Auguste Debay’s manual for the perfumer-chemist on the perfumes and cosmetics of the dressing table: scented waters, powders, pomades, paints and soaps, with recipes. It records what Parisians of the 1850s put on their skin and hair.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

Europe (EU)

Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products (SCCS/1459/11)
Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) · 2012
European Commission, adopted 26–27 June 2012 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at European Commission Wayback copy of the link
The EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety’s opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products. It reviewed the evidence on contact allergy to fragrance ingredients, proposed a longer list of allergens to be named on labels, and recommended that HICC, atranol and chloroatranol not be used.
On record here oakmoss absolute 2,6-dihydroxy-4-methylbenzaldehyde 3-Chloro-2,6-dihydroxy-4-methylbenzaldehyde hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde Citral Coumarin Eugenol geraniol Isoeugenol Hydroxycitronellal Limonene linalool citronellol Regulation Regulation
Rights “© European Union, 2011” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08
Opinion on the safety of Butylphenyl methylpropional (p-BMHCA) in cosmetic products, Submission II (SCCS/1591/17)
Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) · 2019
European Commission, final version adopted 10 May 2019 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at European Commission Wayback copy of the link
The committee’s final opinion on butylphenyl methylpropional (p-BMHCA): it could be considered safe in single products at the proposed levels, but not when the exposure from several products is added together. The European Union later prohibited the substance in cosmetic products (Regulation (EU) 2021/1902).
On record here butylphenyl methylpropional Regulation
Rights “© European Union, 2019” (the notice on the page or in the document as served) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Exploring the impact of fragrance molecular and skin properties on the evaporation profile of fragrances
Emmanouil Hadjiefstathiou and colleagues · 2025
International Journal of Cosmetic Science (2025) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A laboratory study of how fragrance molecules evaporate from skin and from model surfaces, relating each molecule’s evaporation profile to its own properties and to those of the skin. It bears on why the same perfume can develop differently from one wearer to another.
On record here citronellol Limonene
Rights “cc by-nc-nd” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

Station 7 Memory 12

Smell in memory and in literature: the novels, poems and studies the subject keeps returning to. The station on the site

1800–1899

Britain

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde · 1891
London: Ward, Lock and Co., 1891 (book edition; University of California copy) · English
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In chapter eleven Dorian Gray takes up the study of perfumes, distilling oils and burning gums, and the novel lists the scents and the powers the aesthete believed them to have. Wilde names the materials one by one, from ambergris to spikenard.
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Les Fleurs du mal
Charles Baudelaire · 1857
Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857 · French
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The 1857 edition of Baudelaire’s poems, in which scent keeps returning as a key to memory and to the correspondences between the senses: “Correspondances”, “Parfum exotique” and “Le Flacon”, the poem of a forgotten bottle that still holds its past. The book was prosecuted for offending public morals in the year it appeared.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
À rebours
J.-K. Huysmans · 1884
Paris: G. Charpentier, 1884 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
In chapter ten of À rebours the aesthete Des Esseintes takes up perfumery, composing scents from essences and synthetic odorants and reading the history of the art. The novel shows how a reader of the 1880s imagined the perfumer’s craft.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

International

The Semasiology of Words for ‘Smell’ and ‘See’
Francis A. Wood · 1899
PMLA 14 (1899), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
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A philologist traces how the words for smelling and for seeing developed in the Indo-European languages, reviving the principles of Bechtel’s study of 1879 with newer etymologies. He argues that many words for smell originally meant smoke, vapour or exhalation.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

France

Swann’s Way
Marcel Proust; tr. C. K. Scott Moncrieff · 1913 · this edition 1922
Scott Moncrieff translation (1922), Project Gutenberg transcription · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Project Gutenberg Wayback copy of the link
Early in Swann’s Way the taste of a madeleine dipped in lime-blossom tea brings back the narrator’s childhood at Combray. The passage gave its name to the “Proust effect” that studies of odour-evoked memory set out to test.
Rights “Public domain in the USA.” (the Project Gutenberg ebook page (its Copyright row)) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The World I Live In
Helen Keller · 1908
New York: The Century Co., 1908 (Library of Congress copy) · English
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Helen Keller’s essays on knowing the world through touch, smell and taste. Her chapter on smell, which she calls “the fallen angel”, tells how odours carried her to places and to people.
Rights “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright restrictions for this item.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

France

Scent: The Mysterious and Essential Powers of Smell
Annick Le Guérer; tr. Richard Miller · 1988 · this edition 1994
New York: Kodansha International, 1994 (translation of Les pouvoirs de l’odeur, 1988) · English translation
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Annick Le Guérer’s cultural history of the powers once attributed to smell, from the ancient world to psychoanalysis and modern perfumery, translated from her French book of 1988. It moves between anthropology, medicine and literature.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

International

The Smell of Books: A Cultural-Historical Study of Olfactory Perception in Literature
Hans J. Rindisbacher · 1992
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992 · English
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A study of how smell is written in European literature from the nineteenth century on, as far as Süskind’s Perfume. It treats smell in fiction as a historical subject in its own right.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

North America

A Natural History of the Senses
Diane Ackerman · 1990
New York: Random House, 1990 · English
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Essays on the five senses; the long opening section on smell ranges over perfume, memory and the biology of the nose. Diane Ackerman is a poet and essayist, and the book is written for general readers.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08
Odor Sensation and Memory
Trygg Engen · 1991
New York: Praeger, 1991 · English
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Trygg Engen, a psychologist of smell, on how odours are perceived and remembered, and on his finding that memory for odours seems to fade more slowly than memory for pictures. It surveys the experimental psychology of smell up to 1990.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

International

Olfactory LOVER: behavioral and neural correlates of autobiographical odor memory
Maria Larsson, Johan Willander, Kristina Karlsson and Artin Arshamian · 2014
Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014) 312 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at PubMed Central Wayback copy of the link
A review of research on autobiographical memories evoked by odours. Such memories tend to come from earlier in life than those evoked by words or pictures, and are felt as more emotional and more vivid.
Rights “cc by” (the licence field of the article’s Europe PMC record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell
Rachel Herz · 2007 · this edition 2009
New York: HarperCollins, 2009 (first published 2007) · English
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Rachel Herz’s account of the psychology of smell for general readers, drawing on her own experiments on memories brought back by odours. This is the 2009 paperback.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 8 Accord 7

How perfumes are put together: recipe books and composition manuals, from the Renaissance to the training of today. The station on the site

1450–1799

Britain

Delightes for Ladies, to Adorne Their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories
Sir Hugh Plat · 1602 · this edition 1611
London: H. Lownes, 1611 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
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Sir Hugh Plat’s book of secrets for the still-room: sugar work and preserves, the distilling of waters and oils, and perfumes, pomanders and scented washing balls. Printed many times from 1602; this copy is the edition of 1611.
On record here rose otto
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Le Parfumeur royal, ou Traité des parfums, des plus beaux secrets qui entrent dans leur composition
Anonymous · 1761
Paris: Saugrain l’aîné, 1761 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A Paris treatise of 1761 on perfumes and on distilling scented waters and liqueurs, presented as the secrets of the trade: waters, powders, pastes, pomades and sachets. Its author is not named on the title page.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Britain

The Art of Perfumery, and the Methods of Obtaining the Odours of Plants
G. W. Septimus Piesse · 1855 · this edition 1857
Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1857 (Boston Public Library copy) · English
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Septimus Piesse’s handbook of perfumery, from the raw materials and their extraction to recipes for the shop, with the “gamut of odours” in which he matched scents to the notes of a musical scale. This copy is the Philadelphia edition of 1857, two years after the London original.
On record here rose otto jasmine absolute lavender essential oil orris butter sandalwood oil cured vanilla pods bergamot essential oil vetiver oil
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

Perfumes and Their Preparation
George William Askinson; tr. Isidor Furst · 1890 · this edition 1892
New York: Norman W. Henley, 1892 (Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh copy) · English translation
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George William Askinson’s Viennese manual on making perfumes and cosmetics, in English translation: the raw materials, extracts, waters, sachets and fumigating pastilles, with formulas. It is translated from the German edition published in Vienna.
On record here lavender essential oil cured vanilla pods bergamot essential oil jasmine absolute orris butter sandalwood oil
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Perfumery: Its Manufacture and Use
Campbell Morfit (after Elisabeth Celnart) · 1847 · this edition 1853
Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1853 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
An American manual of perfumery adapted by Campbell Morfit from the French of Élisabeth Celnart’s Roret manual, with recipes for scented waters, extracts, pomades and powders. This is the 1853 Philadelphia edition.
On record here rose otto cured vanilla pods bergamot essential oil jasmine absolute lavender essential oil orris butter
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

International

Perfumery: Practice and Principles
Robert R. Calkin and J. Stephan Jellinek · 1994
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994 · English
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A textbook of perfume composition by two perfumers of the industry, explaining accords, the structure of a fragrance and the analysis of well-known perfumes. Robert Calkin and J. Stephan Jellinek wrote it for students of perfumery.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

North America

Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
Mandy Aftel · 2001
New York: North Point Press, 2001 · English
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Mandy Aftel’s book on natural perfumery, joining the history of perfume to instructions for blending with natural materials. It is written by a perfumer working with natural materials.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 9 Perfumer 10

Perfumers in their own words: manuals written by working perfumers, and the lives of the trade. The station on the site

1450–1799

France

Le parfumeur françois, qui enseigne toutes les manières de tirer les odeurs des fleurs
Simon Barbe · 1693
Amsterdam: P. Marret, 1693 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
Simon Barbe, a Paris perfumer, teaches how to draw the scent of flowers into fats, oils and waters and how to compound perfumes, powders and pomades. A trade manual of the reign of Louis XIV, printed at Amsterdam.
On record here jasmine absolute jasmine concrete rose otto
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08
Traité des odeurs, suite du Traité de la distillation
Dejean (Antoine Hornot) · 1764
Paris: Nyon, Guillyn, Saugrain, 1764 (BIU Santé copy) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Dejean, the pen name of the Paris distiller Antoine Hornot, follows his treatise on distillation with this one on odours: scented waters, essences, powders, pomades and soaps, with recipes. The edition of 1764.
On record here lavender essential oil bergamot essential oil
Rights “Licence ouverte / Open licence Etalab” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Britain

The British Perfumer, Snuff-Manufacturer, and Colourman’s Guide
Charles Lillie; ed. Colin Mackenzie · 1822
London: J. Souter, 1822 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The recipe book of Charles Lillie, a London perfumer of the early eighteenth century, published a century later by Colin Mackenzie. It records how a Georgian shop made its waters, powders, snuffs and colours.
On record here rose otto lavender essential oil jasmine absolute bergamot essential oil
Rights “This work is available under the Creative Commons, Public Domain Mark” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
The Book of Perfumes
Eugene Rimmel · 1865
London: Chapman and Hall, 1865 (Cornell University Library copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The London perfumer Eugene Rimmel’s illustrated history of perfume from antiquity to his own day, with chapters on the raw materials and on the customs of scent around the world. Rimmel ran a perfumery business in London and Paris, and the book is richly engraved.
On record here rose otto jasmine absolute sandalwood oil frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

France

Le Parfumeur impérial, ou l’Art de préparer les odeurs, essences, parfums
C.-F. Bertrand · 1809
Paris: Brunot-Labbe, 1809 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A perfumer’s manual of the Napoleonic years, “the imperial perfumer”, on preparing odours, essences, perfumes, pomades, oils and vinegars for the toilet. It shows how the Paris trade worked in the early years of the Empire.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08
Manuel du parfumeur
Jeanne Gacon-Dufour · 1825
Paris, 1825 (the record names no publisher) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
Jeanne Gacon-Dufour’s manual on making perfumed pastes, powders, waters and pomades for the household and the trade. She wrote many practical household manuals in the 1820s.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08
Nouveau manuel complet du parfumeur, ou Traité pratique et simplifié de la parfumerie
P. Pradal · 1873
Paris: Roret (Manuels Roret), 1873 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
The Roret series’ complete manual of perfumery in its 1873 form: essences, extracts, waters, pomades and soaps, as made in the French workshops of the time. The Roret manuals were reissued and revised for decades, and this edition shows the trade before the synthetics took hold.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

France

Le parfum (Que sais-je?)
Edmond Roudnitska · 1980 · this edition 1990
3rd edition, Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1990 (BnF catalogue record; first edition 1980) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the BnF catalogue (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A short introduction to perfume in the “Que sais-je?” series by the perfumer Edmond Roudnitska: its materials, its composition and its aesthetics. In copyright; the link is the BnF catalogue record of the third edition.
On record here Edmond Roudnitska
Rights the BnF catalogue record describes the printed book; it states no rights for it · checked 2026-10-08
Une vie au service du parfum
Edmond Roudnitska · 1991
Paris: Thérèse Vian, 1991 (BnF catalogue record) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the BnF catalogue (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
The memoir of Edmond Roudnitska, the perfumer of Diorissimo and Eau Sauvage, on his career and on perfume as an art of form. In copyright; the link is the BnF catalogue record.
On record here Edmond Roudnitska
Rights the BnF catalogue record describes the printed book; it states no rights for it · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

France

The Secret of Chanel No. 5
Tilar J. Mazzeo · 2010
New York: Harper, 2010 · English
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A history of Chanel No. 5 from Ernest Beaux’s work on it in Grasse in 1920 to the perfume’s later fortunes, by a cultural historian. Ernest Beaux’s own record on this site gives his dates and works.
On record here Ernest Beaux
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 10 Bottle 7

Glass and the bottle: histories of glassmaking, ancient vessels and the presentation of perfume. The station on the site

1800–1899

Britain

Curiosities of Glass Making
Apsley Pellatt · 1849
London: David Bogue, 1849 (Getty Research Institute copy) · English
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The London glassmaker Apsley Pellatt describes glassmaking past and present, from the glass of antiquity and Venice to the cut and pressed glass of his own works. He wrote as a working manufacturer.
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

La verrerie antique: description de la collection Charvet
Wilhelm Froehner · 1879
Le Pecq: J. Charvet, 1879 (Getty Research Institute copy) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A catalogue of the Charvet collection of ancient glass, with a history of glassmaking in antiquity and plates of the vessels, small flasks for oils among them. Wilhelm Froehner was a curator of antiquities in Paris.
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

Britain

Glass
Edward Dillon · 1907
London: Methuen; New York: Putnam, 1907 (The Connoisseur’s Library; Smithsonian Libraries copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Edward Dillon’s history of glass for collectors, from ancient Egypt and Rome to Venice and modern Europe, with plates. The chapters on antiquity include the small vessels made for oils and scents.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

France

La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation
Anonymous (for the 1925 Paris exhibition) · 1925
Paris: La Revue des marques de la parfumerie et de la savonnerie, 1925 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A book on French perfumery and the art of its presentation, published for the 1925 Paris exhibition of decorative arts. It shows how the French houses dressed their scents: bottles, boxes, labels and display stands.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

Das Glas im Altertume, vol. 1
Anton Kisa · 1908
Leipzig: Karl W. Hiersemann, 1908 (University of Toronto copy) · German
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume 1 of Anton Kisa’s history of glass in antiquity, a survey of the techniques, workshops and forms of ancient glass, among them the small bottles made for perfumed oils. The text is in German.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

Italy & Iberia

Perfume Bottles (Profumi mignon)
Carla Bordignon · 1995
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995 · English
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A collector’s book on miniature perfume bottles, the small samples and minis made by the perfume houses, with photographs and makers. This is the English edition.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

Britain

Perfume Bottles
Judith Miller · 2006
London and New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2006 (Miller’s Collector’s Guides) · English
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A collector’s guide to perfume bottles from the eighteenth century to the present, with their makers, designers and marks. It is illustrated throughout with photographs.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 11 In your room 8

Scent at home: sweet waters, pot-pourri, incense and the scented garden. The station on the site

1450–1799

Britain

The Queen-like Closet, or Rich Cabinet
Hannah Woolley · 1670
Project Gutenberg transcription of the 1672 edition · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Project Gutenberg Wayback copy of the link
Hannah Woolley’s book of “rare receipts” for the household: preserving, candying and cookery, with rose waters, perfumes and sweet powders for the closet and the chamber. Hannah Woolley wrote for gentlewomen and their servants.
On record here rose otto
Rights “Public domain in the USA.” (the Project Gutenberg ebook page (its Copyright row)) · checked 2026-10-08
The Toilet of Flora
Attributed to Pierre-Joseph Buc’hoz · 1772 · this edition 1779
London: J. Murray and W. Nicoll, 1779 (New York Botanical Garden copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
An English adaptation of a French collection of recipes for baths, essences, pomatums, powders, perfumes and sweet-scented waters, with directions for pot-pourri and for scented bags for the linen. It is attributed to the French naturalist Pierre-Joseph Buc’hoz.
On record here lavender essential oil labdanum absolute rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Britain

Sweet-Scented Flowers and Fragrant Leaves: Interesting Associations Gathered from Many Sources, with Notes on Their History and Utility
Donald McDonald · 1895
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895 (Library of Congress copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A Victorian gardener’s anthology of fragrant flowers and leaves, gathering for each plant its history, its associations in poetry and custom, and its uses. Donald McDonald, of the Royal Horticultural Society, had written before on gardens in India and Africa.
Rights “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright restrictions for this item.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
Pot-pourri from a Surrey Garden
Maria Theresa Earle (Mrs C. W. Earle) · 1897 · this edition 1898
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1898 (Library of Congress copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A month-by-month book of a Surrey garden and its household, with recipes for pot-pourri and notes on the scented plants of the garden. Maria Theresa Earle wrote it in 1897; this is an American edition of 1898.
On record here rose otto lavender essential oil
Rights “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright restrictions for this item.” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

Britain

A History of the Use of Incense in Divine Worship
E. G. Cuthbert F. Atchley · 1909
London: Longmans, Green, 1909 (Alcuin Club Collections XIII; PIMS Library, Toronto copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A history of incense in worship, from the temples of the ancient world to the medieval and modern churches, published for the Alcuin Club. It gathers the texts on what was burned, when, and with what meaning.
On record here frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
The Scented Garden
Eleanour Sinclair Rohde · 1931 · this edition 1936
Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1936 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Eleanour Sinclair Rohde’s book on the scented plants of the English garden, with old still-room recipes, pot-pourri and scented leaves. Written in 1931; the Internet Archive lends the Boston edition of 1936.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The Fragrant Path: A Book about Sweet Scented Flowers and Leaves
Louise Beebe Wilder · 1932 · this edition 1996
Point Roberts, WA, and Vancouver: Hartley & Marks, 1996 reprint (first published by Macmillan, 1932) · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Louise Beebe Wilder’s book on the scented flowers and leaves of the garden, from the fragrance of the night-blooming plants to scented herbs, written in 1932. The Internet Archive lends a 1996 reprint.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

East Asia

The Trail of Time: Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia
Silvio A. Bedini · 1994
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Silvio Bedini’s history of incense clocks in China, Japan and Korea: seals and trails of powdered incense that burned at a known rate to measure the hours of the day and night. The incense used was compounded from woods and resins.
On record here agarwood oil sandalwood oil
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 12 History 17

The history of perfume: ancient authors, cultural histories and general surveys. The station on the site

Antiquity (to 500)

Mediterranean & Near East

The Natural History of Pliny, vol. III
Pliny the Elder; tr. John Bostock and H. T. Riley · AD 77 · this edition 1855
London: Henry G. Bohn (Bohn’s Classical Library), 1855 (Marine Biological Laboratory copy) · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume III of the Bostock and Riley translation of Pliny’s Natural History. It includes his book on the aromatic trees of Arabia and India, frankincense and myrrh among them, and his book on unguents, with the recipes and prices of Roman perfumes.
On record here frankincense labdanum absolute rose otto
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08
The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned, vol. III
Athenaeus of Naucratis; tr. C. D. Yonge · c. AD 200 · this edition 1854
London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854 (University of Toronto copy) · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Volume III of Yonge’s translation of The Deipnosophists, a banquet conversation full of quotations from lost Greek writers. Its fifteenth book turns to wreaths and perfumes, which perfumes came from where and how they were worn.
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1450–1799

South & Southeast Asia

The Ain i Akbari, vol. I
Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak; tr. H. Blochmann · c. 1595 · this edition 1873
Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal (Bibliotheca Indica), 1873 · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Abu’l-Fazl’s account of the court and empire of the Mughal emperor Akbar, finished in the 1590s, here in Blochmann’s English translation. Its chapter on the imperial perfumery lists the perfumes used at court, ambergris, aloeswood and sandal among them, with their prices and recipes for compound scents.
On record here agarwood oil sandalwood oil
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1800–1899

Britain

The Case for Incense, Submitted to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury
Anonymous (presented on behalf of the Rev. H. Westall) · 1899
London: Longmans, Green, 1899 (Trinity College, Toronto copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The case put to the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Lambeth hearing of 1899 in defence of burning incense in Church of England services. It sets out the historical evidence for incense in Christian worship as the defence read it.
On record here frankincense
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

La rose dans l’antiquité et au moyen âge: histoire, légendes et symbolisme
Charles Joret · 1892
Paris: Émile Bouillon, 1892 (New York Botanical Garden copy) · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Charles Joret’s history of the rose in the ancient and medieval world: the rose as the ancients knew it, its cultivation, its uses in perfume and medicine, and its place in legend and symbol. It draws on Greek, Latin, Persian and medieval texts.
On record here rose otto rose absolute
Rights “http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions/” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

The Place of Incense in the Mosaic Ritual
W. W. Everts · 1884
The Old Testament Student 4 (1884), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
An essay on incense in the worship of ancient Israel as the books of Moses describe it: the altar of incense and the holy compound of four ingredients, frankincense among them. It appeared in the journal The Old Testament Student in 1884.
On record here frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

Recherches sur la découverte de l’essence de rose
Louis Langlès · 1804
Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1804 (BnF catalogue record) · French
NOT DIGITISED Where it is held: the BnF catalogue (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
The orientalist Louis Langlès examines the Persian and Indian accounts of how essence of rose, the attar, came to be discovered. No digital copy was found when the link was checked; the BnF catalogue records the printed book.
On record here rose otto rose absolute
Rights the BnF catalogue record describes the printed book; it states no rights for it · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

Britain

The Mystery and Lure of Perfume
C. J. S. Thompson · 1927
London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1927 (Wellcome Library copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
C. J. S. Thompson, a curator of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, writes a popular history of perfume and incense from ancient Egypt to the 1920s, with chapters on materials, old recipes and the lore of scent. Many of the recipes are quoted in full.
On record here rose otto lavender essential oil frankincense sandalwood oil
Rights “It is possible this Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).” (the rights field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

France

Histoire des parfums et hygiène de la toilette
Septimus Piesse · 1905
Paris: J.-B. Baillière et fils, 1905 · French
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Wayback copy of the link
A French history of perfumes and of the toilet under Piesse’s name, published long after his death: powders, vinegars, dentifrices, paints, dyes and cosmetics from antiquity to modern times. It is in French.
Rights “domaine public / public domain” (Gallica’s record for the document (dc:rights), visibility “all”) · checked 2026-10-08

Mediterranean & Near East

Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries
A. Lucas · 1926 · this edition 1934
Second edition, revised, London: Edward Arnold, 1934 (first published as Ancient Egyptian Materials, 1926; the item record gives 1926) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Alfred Lucas, chemist to the Egyptian Antiquities Service, reports what analysis had shown of the materials of ancient Egypt. This revised second edition adds chapters on cosmetics, incense and perfumes, with the resins, oils and fats found in tombs.
On record here frankincense labdanum absolute
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

North America

The Romance of Perfume
Richard Le Gallienne; drawings by George Barbier · 1928
New York and Paris: Richard Hudnut, 1928 (State Library of Pennsylvania copy) · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
The poet Richard Le Gallienne’s essay on the history and lore of perfume, illustrated by George Barbier and published in 1928 by the perfumer Richard Hudnut. It is a piece of luxury publishing for a perfume house as much as a history.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08
Perfumes and Spices, Including an Account of Soaps and Cosmetics
A. Hyatt Verrill · 1940
Boston: L. C. Page, 1940 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
A. Hyatt Verrill’s popular account of perfumes, spices, soaps and cosmetics: where each comes from, how it is prepared and how it came into everyday use. It was written for American readers on the eve of the Second World War.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

South & Southeast Asia

The Sandalwood and Peacocks of Ophir
Walter Eugene Clark · 1920
American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 36 (1920), via JSTOR Early Journal Content · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A short paper on two words in the Bible’s account of Solomon’s ships returning from Ophir, usually translated sandalwood and peacocks. Clark asks whether they show trade between India and the West in the tenth century BC.
On record here sandalwood oil
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the scan is offered for free reading and download · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

East Asia

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics
Edward H. Schafer · 1963
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Edward Schafer’s study of the exotic goods that reached Tang China, with a chapter on aromatics: aloeswood, sandalwood, frankincense and the incenses burned at court and in the temples. It reads Tang poetry and records together.
On record here agarwood oil sandalwood oil frankincense
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

France

The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination
Alain Corbin · 1982 · this edition 1986
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986 (translation of Le miasme et la jonquille, 1982) · English translation
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Alain Corbin’s history of smell in France from about 1750 to 1880: the fear of foul air and miasma, the campaigns of deodorisation, and the shift in taste from heavy animal scents to light floral ones. It was published in French in 1982 as Le Miasme et la jonquille.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

International

Fragrance: The Story of Perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel
Edwin T. Morris · 1984
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1984 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Edwin Morris’s history of perfume from the ancient world to the houses of the twentieth century, with room for the incense and aromatic traditions of Asia. It is written for general readers and illustrated.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

France

Perfume: Joy, Obsession, Scandal, Sin. A Cultural History of Fragrance from 1750 to the Present
Richard Stamelman · 2006
New York: Rizzoli, 2006 · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
A cultural history of perfume in France from 1750 to the present, read through literature, advertising and the perfume houses. It is richly illustrated.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

Station 13 Atelier 6

The working bench: practical treatises on making perfume, from the nineteenth century to now. The station on the site

1800–1899

German-speaking Europe

A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Perfumery
Carl Deite; ed. William T. Brannt · 1892
Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1892 · English translation
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
Carl Deite’s German treatise on making perfumery, edited for American readers by William Brannt: the raw materials, their extraction, and recipes for extracts, waters, sachets and soaps. It is a practical manual for the workshop.
On record here bergamot essential oil lavender essential oil cured vanilla pods orris butter jasmine absolute frankincense
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

North America

Perfumery and Kindred Arts: A Comprehensive Treatise on Perfumery
R. S. Cristiani · 1877
Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1877 · English
FREE FULL TEXT Read it at Internet Archive
A Philadelphia treatise on perfumery and the allied trades: the raw materials, extracts, waters, powders, soaps and toilet preparations, with formulas. R. S. Cristiani wrote for the American trade of the 1870s.
On record here rose otto orris butter bergamot essential oil cured vanilla pods lavender essential oil jasmine absolute
Rights “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT” (the possible-copyright-status field of the Internet Archive item record) · checked 2026-10-08

1900–1945

North America

The Science and Art of Perfumery
Edward Sagarin · 1945 · this edition 1955
New York: Greenberg, 1955 (revised edition; first published 1945) · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Edward Sagarin’s account of perfumery for general readers, from its history and raw materials to the synthetic chemistry and the industry of the mid-twentieth century. The revised edition of 1955.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

1946–1999

France

Perfumery Technology: Art, Science, Industry
Marcel Billot and F. V. Wells · 1975 · this edition 1981
Longman Higher Education, 1981 printing (first published by Ellis Horwood, 1975) · English
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
A technical survey of perfumery by Marcel Billot and F. V. Wells: raw materials, aroma chemicals, the industry and the composition of perfumes, as practised in the 1970s. It is written for students and for those working in the industry.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

German-speaking Europe

The Practice of Modern Perfumery
Paul Jellinek; tr. A. J. Krajkeman · 1951 · this edition 1954
London: Leonard Hill; New York: Interscience, 1954 (translation of Die Praxis des modernen Parfümeurs) · English translation
BORROW ONLY Borrow it at Internet Archive
Paul Jellinek’s guide to perfume composition, translated from the German, setting out principles for building and balancing a perfume and a classification of odours. He wrote from long practice as a perfumer in Central Europe.
Rights the Internet Archive item record states no rights; the item is lent through its lending library only · checked 2026-10-08

2000 to today

France

Le parfum (Que sais-je?)
Jean-Claude Ellena · 2007
Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 2007 (BnF catalogue record) · French
IN COPYRIGHT Where it is held: the BnF catalogue (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Jean-Claude Ellena, then in-house perfumer at Hermès, writes the “Que sais-je?” introduction to perfume: its materials, its composition and the profession. In copyright; the link is the BnF catalogue record.
Rights the BnF catalogue record describes the printed book; it states no rights for it · checked 2026-10-08

The timeline, by the year each was written

1900–1945

1900Les parfums artificiels Eugène Charabot · station 4
1900Ueber das Vorkommen des Phenyläthylalkohols in Rosenölen H. von Soden · station 4
1903Vanilla Cultivation in Hawaii Frank E. Conter · station 1
1904Die Riechstoffe Georg Cohn · station 4
1905Histoire des parfums et hygiène de la toilette Septimus Piesse · station 12
1906Die ätherischen Öle nach ihren chemischen Bestandteilen, vol. 1 F. W. Semmler · station 4
1907Glass Edward Dillon · station 10
1907The Chemistry of Commerce Robert Kennedy Duncan · station 3
1908Das Glas im Altertume, vol. 1 Anton Kisa · station 10
1908The Commercial Products of India Sir George Watt · station 1
1908The World I Live In Helen Keller · station 7
1909A History of the Use of Incense in Divine Worship E. G. Cuthbert F. Atchley · station 11
1909Terpene und Campher Otto Wallach · station 4
1910Alicyclic compounds Otto Wallach · station 4
1910Floral Perfumes Margaret Tucker · station 3
1910Semi-Annual Report of Schimmel & Co. Schimmel & Co. · station 2
1912Wild Volatile-Oil Plants and Their Economic Importance Frank Rabak · station 1
1913Swann’s Way Marcel Proust · station 7
1913The Volatile Oils, vol. I E. Gildemeister · station 3
1916Der Geruch Hans Henning · station 5
1919Sino-Iranica Berthold Laufer · station 1
1920Culture et préparation de la vanille Charles Chalot · station 1
1920The Sandalwood and Peacocks of Ophir Walter Eugene Clark · station 12
1925La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation Anonymous (for the 1925 Paris exhibition) · station 10
1926Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries A. Lucas · station 12
1926Distillation des plantes aromatiques et des parfums René-Maurice Gattefossé · station 3
1927Les parfums Paul Jeancard · station 3
1927The Mystery and Lure of Perfume C. J. S. Thompson · station 12
1928The Romance of Perfume Richard Le Gallienne · station 12
1931The Scented Garden Eleanour Sinclair Rohde · station 11
1932The Fragrant Path Louise Beebe Wilder · station 11
1938Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act United States Congress · station 2
1940Perfumes and Spices, Including an Account of Soaps and Cosmetics A. Hyatt Verrill · station 12
1944The Chemical Senses R. W. Moncrieff · station 5
1945Multimembered rings, higher terpene compounds and male sex hormones Leopold Ružička · station 4
1945The Science and Art of Perfumery Edward Sagarin · station 13

1946–1999

1947Natural Perfume Materials Y. R. Naves · station 3
1948The Essential Oils Ernest Guenther · station 2
1948Vanilla Culture in Puerto Rico Norman F. Childers · station 1
1951The Practice of Modern Perfumery Paul Jellinek · station 13
1959US Patent 2,875,131 Marion S. Carpenter · station 4
1960Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin Steffen Arctander · station 2
1962Isolement et détermination de la structure du jasmonate de méthyle, constituant odorant caractéristique de l’essence de jasmin E. Demole · station 4
1962Synthèse du dihydrojasmonate de méthyle E. Demole · station 4
1963The Golden Peaches of Samarkand Edward H. Schafer · station 12
1964The Science of Smell R. H. Wright · station 5
1964US Patent 3,158,644 Edouard Demole · station 4
1965Lavande et lavandin G. André de Réparaz · station 3
1965Terpenoids—LXII K. R. Varma · station 4
1967The structure of incensole S. Corsano · station 4
1970Molecular Basis of Odor John E. Amoore · station 5
1970Structure et synthèse de la damascénone, constituant odorant de l’essence de rose bulgare E. Demole · station 4
1975Perfumery Technology Marcel Billot · station 13
1975US Patent 3,911,018 John B. Hall · station 4
1976Council Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products Council of the European Communities · station 2
1977US Patent 4,007,137 James M. Sanders · station 4
1980Le parfum Edmond Roudnitska · station 9
1981Frankincense and Myrrh Nigel Groom · station 1
1982The Foul and the Fragrant Alain Corbin · station 12
1984Fragrance Edwin T. Morris · station 12
1985Atlas of Odor Character Profiles Andrew Dravnieks · station 5
1988Scent Annick Le Guérer · station 7
1990A Natural History of the Senses Diane Ackerman · station 7
1991A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors Linda Buck · station 5
1991Odor Sensation and Memory Trygg Engen · station 7
1991Une vie au service du parfum Edmond Roudnitska · station 9
1992The Smell of Books Hans J. Rindisbacher · station 7
1993Vetiver Grass National Research Council · station 1
1994Perfumery Robert R. Calkin · station 8
1994The Trail of Time Silvio A. Bedini · station 11
1995Perfume Bottles Carla Bordignon · station 10

2000 to today

2000Heart of the Matter Angela Barden · station 1
2001Essence and Alchemy Mandy Aftel · station 8
2002The Emperor of Scent Chandler Burr · station 5
2003Directive 2003/15/EC amending Council Directive 76/768/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products European Parliament · station 2
2004Scents and sensibility Richard Axel · station 5
2004Unraveling the sense of smell Linda B. Buck · station 5
2004Vanilla Patricia Rain · station 2
2006Perfume Bottles Judith Miller · station 10
2006Perfume Richard Stamelman · station 12
2006The Secret of Scent Luca Turin · station 4
2007Le parfum Jean-Claude Ellena · station 13
2007The Scent of Desire Rachel Herz · station 7
2008What the Nose Knows Avery Gilbert · station 5
2010The Rose Jennifer Potter · station 2
2010The Secret of Chanel No. 5 Tilar J. Mazzeo · station 9
2012Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) · station 6
2013Biosynthesis of Sandalwood Oil Maria L. Diaz-Chavez · station 4
2014Humans can discriminate more than 1 trillion olfactory stimuli C. Bushdid · station 5
2014Olfactory LOVER Maria Larsson · station 7
2015The number of olfactory stimuli that humans can discriminate is still unknown Richard C. Gerkin · station 5
2016Olfactory perception of chemically diverse molecules Andreas Keller · station 5
2018Cloning and Functional Verification of Genes Related to 2-Phenylethanol Biosynthesis in Rosa rugosa Lixia Sheng · station 4
2019Opinion on the safety of Butylphenyl methylpropional Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) · station 6
2021Continuous resin tapping for frankincense harvest increases susceptibility of Boswellia papyrifera Alemayehu Negussie · station 1
2021Genetic diversity analysis in a mini core collection of Damask rose Akram Sadat Mostafavi · station 1
2021Sesquiterpenoids and 2- Shao-Yang Wei · station 4
2022A chromosome-level, haplotype-phased Vanilla planifolia genome highlights the challenge of partial endoreplication for accurate whole-genome assembly Quentin Piet · station 1
2022Genome structure and evolutionary history of frankincense producing Boswellia sacra Abdul Latif Khan · station 1
2022Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 United States Congress · station 2
2022Total enzymatic synthesis of cis-α-irone from a simple carbon source Xixian Chen · station 4
2023A principal odor map unifies diverse tasks in olfactory perception Brian K. Lee · station 5
2023IFRA Code of Practice International Fragrance Association (IFRA) · station 2
2023The Jasmine Gang Chen · station 4
2024Deciphering the roles of bacterial and fungal communities in the formation and quality of agarwood Chen-Chen Fu · station 1
2025Cistus ladanifer L. Custódia Gago · station 2
2025Exploring the impact of fragrance molecular and skin properties on the evaporation profile of fragrances Emmanouil Hadjiefstathiou · station 6
2025Influence of Traditional Vanilla Curing on Its Physicochemical Properties and Aromatic Profile Iván J. Pérez-Viveros · station 3

The bibliography

Every work on this page, generated from the records when the site was built: BibTeX (.bib) · plain text (.txt). With script on, the export above takes only the works your filters show.

How the list was made

Chosen for the Journey. The works were chosen by the house for the thirteen stations and weighted to the thirteen materials and the molecules on record. Bibliographies and the holding libraries’ own catalogues (the Internet Archive, Gallica, the Wellcome Collection, PubMed Central, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the BnF catalogue and others) were used for leads on titles, authors and dates only; every note is written by the house, and the shelves and groupings are the house’s own.
Every link opened. Each link was opened and read on the date shown with the work: the host still serves it, it is the work and edition named, and a work labelled free can actually be read there. Where a host refuses automated readers on its page, its own record service was read instead. A backup link to the Wayback Machine is given where a snapshot already exists; none was requested.
Checked again. A link gate opens every link again before the site is published and fails if a link dies, moves to an unrelated page, or no longer matches its label.
The rights are the host’s. The rights line repeats what the host states for that copy. A listing is not an endorsement of a host, and the hosts are independent of the house.

The history of perfume, on the History page · All the records · The Library’s tools and reference

169 works from the Source records (data/entities/sources/TXT-*.json) · every link checked between 2026-10-08 and 2026-10-08

Find a work

What the access labels mean

Station 1 Origin 25

Antiquity (to 500)

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Mediterranean & Near East

1450–1799

Mediterranean & Near East

South & Southeast Asia

1800–1899

Africa & the Indian Ocean

Britain

Low Countries

Mediterranean & Near East

1900–1945

Africa & the Indian Ocean

East Asia

North America

South & Southeast Asia

1946–1999

Africa & the Indian Ocean

International

North America

2000 to today

Africa & the Indian Ocean

East Asia

International

Mediterranean & Near East

South & Southeast Asia

Station 2 Material 15

1800–1899

Britain

German-speaking Europe

1900–1945

German-speaking Europe

North America

1946–1999

Europe (EU)

North America

2000 to today

Britain

Europe (EU)

International

Italy & Iberia

North America

Station 3 Extraction 13

1450–1799

Britain

German-speaking Europe

Italy & Iberia

1800–1899

Africa & the Indian Ocean

German-speaking Europe

1900–1945

France

German-speaking Europe

North America

1946–1999

France

2000 to today

North America

Station 4 Molecule 26

1800–1899

Britain

France

German-speaking Europe

1900–1945

France

German-speaking Europe

International

1946–1999

International

Italy & Iberia

North America

South & Southeast Asia

2000 to today

East Asia

International

Station 5 Perception 18

1800–1899