The ‘Perfume Garden’ by Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins is inspired by a perfume created 400 years ago for Elizabeth I. It began with a visit to Grasse to recreate the queen’s perfume with the help of French perfume house Jean Patou, and each plant in the garden has a role to play in the creation of scent. The final design will include an area where visitors can try the contemporary version of Elizabeth I’s perfume for themselves.

— From The Chelsea Flower Show 2009 at Time Out London. You can also read more about the Perfume Garden at the Telegraph or at Perfumer Flavorist.

This world premier will now in all probability be followed by another one: "The desiccated residues of a fluid can be clearly discerned in the x-ray photographs," the museum´s curator explains. "Our pharmacologists are now going to analyse this sediment." The results could be available in a good year´s time. If they are successful, the scientists in Bonn are even hoping to "reconstruct" the perfume so that, 3,500 years after the death of the woman amongst whose possessions it was found, the scent could then be revitalised.

— Scientists at Bonn University will try to reconstruct the perfume of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, a "power-conscious woman" who ruled Egypt until her death in 1457 B.C. Read more in What Scents Did The Ancient Egyptians Use? at ScienceDaily.

An ongoing row over who invented eau de cologne seemed to have been settled Monday after a researcher discovered an 18th-century note in a Paris library confirming that the perfume was created by Paolo Feminis.

— From Row over eau de cologne 'settled' at Ansa.it, with thanks to Jessica for the link!

When the tiny stopper is delicately eased free, a mere wisp of scent imprisoned for over 650 years is released.

In a unique experiment, scientists at the L'Oreal perfume institute in Paris tried to analyse the ingredients of a perfume whose precious container survived the Black Death, which annihilated a third of the population of Europe.

— From Scent of tragedy lingers in a 650-year-old perfume bottle buried by victim of pogrom, an article (with video) at the Guardian about a new exhibit, Treasures of the Black Death, that opens later this week at The Wallace Collection in London. Many thanks to Jessica for the link!

A team of Franciscan archaeologists digging in the biblical town of Magdala in what is now Israel say they have unearthed vials of perfume similar to those that may have been used by the woman said to have washed Jesus' feet.

The perfumed ointments were found intact at the bottom of a mud-filled swimming pool, alongside hair and make-up objects, the director of the dig conducted by the group Studium Biblicum Franciscanum told the Terrasanta.net religious website.

— From Perfume vials from Christ’s era unearthed at MSNBC, with many thanks to JanJan for the link. You can read more at Terrasanta (article is in Italian, and includes a slideshow where you can see the location of the dig and images of the terracotta ampoules).

With the winter holidays approaching fast, it's time to discuss a book that has been sitting on my shelf for several months now. It's one of those rare books that combine pleasure and knowledge in equal measure — beautiful looks, matched with refreshing and original content. Which is no small accomplishment, when you think of all the coffee-table books we've reviewed on these pages alone. Author Roja Dove needs no further introduction*, and many of you have either read about The Essence of Perfume on other blogs, or perhaps even own a copy already. What I want to do here is to give a brief overview of its contents, and then add a small critical note, which I hope won't resonate too badly with the author. We'll see.

If you're covering a big topic like perfumery in one book, you're bound to make concessions. This one starts with a very brief introduction to the sense of smell, which is obviously not the author's strongest point. But if olfaction is what you're most interested in, there's an ample choice of specialized books to consult instead. Chapter two is a far more elaborate sketch of the origins of modern perfumery. It features, among other things, stunning images of three unique Guerlain bottles…

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What you get for your 29 dollars is a book with a lot of beautiful illustrations indeed…

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The first section of Une Histoire mondiale du parfum is dedicated to “Antiquity”, and deals with perfume and cosmetics in America, Europe, and the Middle East…

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Until recently, my favorite titles in the ‘generic’ section of my library were The Book of Perfume and Perfume Legends. They’re both well-researched, nicely illustrated, and great fun to browse through on a Sunday afternoon. Michael Edwards’ book in particular seemed like a hard act to follow: if I were writing a perfume book and that one landed on my desk, I’m sure it would discourage me a great deal. Fortunately, the author of Perfume just carried on with his project: to tell the story of perfumery from the mid 18th century to the present against the backdrop of changes in art, literature, poetry, architecture and fashion. The result is a book that is indeed focused on perfumery, only with a much wider scope than we’re used to…

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Artifacts from the site can now be seen at the Palazzo Caffarelli in Rome, where they will be on display through September as part of the exhibit "I profumi di Afrodite e il segreto dell’olio". Apparently, they have also recreated some of the fragrances for visitors to smell. Read more about the exhibit (in Italian) at Musei Capitolini. (quote via ansa.it, found via upi)