Atlas of Perfumed Botany - by Jean-Claude Ellena (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A lavishly illustrated cartography of fragrance that charts the botany and geography of perfume composition"--

Book Synopsis

A cartography of fragrance that charts the botany and geography of perfume composition.

For perfume makers, each smell carries with it a multitude of associations and impressions that must be carefully analyzed and understood before the sum of all its parts emerges. All perfumers have their own idiosyncratic methods, drawn from their individual olfactory experiences, for classifying fragrances. In Atlas of Perfumed Botany, virtuoso perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena leads readers on a poetic, geographic, and botanical journey of perfume discovery. Ellena offers a varied and fascinating cartography of fragrances, tracing historical connections and cultural exchanges. Full-page entries on plants ranging from bergamot to lavender are accompanied by detailed and vivid full-color botanical illustrations.

Review Quotes

Included in the Financial Times's "16 gifts for the mixologist in your life" Holiday 2022 Gift Guide
Included in Vogue.com's "Best Books to Gift for the Holidays, 2022"

"Ellena writes in a vivid prose, and has a knack for translating smells into the written word... This enchanting volume merits a spot on any perfume connoisseur's shelf."
--Publishers Weekly

"Perfumers have taught me just as much about smell (and taste) as any sommelier. I long to get my nose into this new work by Jean-Claude Ellena, writer and former head perfumer at Hermès."
--The Financial Times

About the Author

Jean-Claude Ellena, the "nose" of the luxury brand Hermès for fourteen years, has been the Creative Director of Fragrance at the perfume house Le Couvent since 2019. Karin Doering-Froger, a faculty member at the Atelier de Sèvres, has illustrated many novels and travel guides, including Atlas de cités perdues and Atlas de contrées rêvées.