Michael Edwards is a household name in perfumery. He is the man behind Fragrances of the World (formerly known as The Fragrance Adviser, and now available in book form and online), a critically acclaimed guide for retailers, and the author of Perfume Legends, a standard work on the history of modern perfumery. While there’s some controversy among perfume fans regarding the reliability of the (online) suggestions provided by the Fragrance Adviser, Perfume Legends is universally hailed as a must-have. Of course, good things come at a price, and at $130 US this book is no bargain. I’ve postponed my purchase for a long time, and ended up buying the (much cheaper) French soft cover edition, translated by Guy Robert. My review is based on the latter, but there’s no real difference between the two.
What we have here is a reference book on fragrances that made a mark in 20th century perfumery. The selection is restricted to French feminine fragrances, but that hardly narrows it down (although the wonderful Youth Dew would have fitted perfectly in Edwards’ list). The book features forty-five influential perfumes…
The World of Perfume is the sort of book that covers walls in discount bookcenters: it shares the shelf with illustrated books about birds, guns, trains, and fishing equipment. I bought my copy almost a decade ago, and it's been a while since I last browsed through its pages. Time to revisit this forgotten gem, and to set aside some prejudices about affordable coffee-table books.
Suppose you want it all: a comprehensive read on the history of perfume, biographies on the greatest noses of the past, insights in the creation of fragrances and fragrance bottles, a smart guide with addresses and perfume classifications, and perhaps even some tips on how to create your own fragrance wardrobe. Is there a single book that covers all these things exhaustively? The answer is no. But 
Scents of Time, subtitled Perfume From Ancient Egypt to the 21st Century, is a gift set that was published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1999. An outer box sleeve opens to reveal the book along with eight perfume minatures developed by Givaudan to illustrate the “most influential scents in history”: frankincense, rose, sandalwood jasmine, orange blossom, spice, eau de cologne, millefleurs, and sportif.
