For perfume connoisseurs 'The Perfume Companion' by Nigel Groom is the book to read. Nigel has lived and worked in South Arabia, which had previously been the centre of the incense trade; frankincense being a staple of ancient perfume. It is a book for amateurs and professionals alike. The book contains a highly regarded 'Perfume Directory', which is a résumé about 97 major perfume houses. Read about grand old French perfume houses such as Coty, Houbigant and D'Orsay; the perfumes of couture houses such as Chanel, Christian Dior and Givenchy and the big American names such as Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and Donna Karan. The book also describes the history of perfume, principal ingredients, classifications as well as the leading perfumers and perfume manufacturers of today. 

Another excellent book is 'Parfum' by Elisabeth Barillé and Catherine Laroze. Barillé is a writer who has done traineeships at many of the Paris perfume houses. Laroze is a specialist journalist for perfume who has not only written several books on perfume, but also works for magazines such as Vogue. Their coffee table book has been lovingly researched and contains some wonderful pictures such as a turn of the century poster advertising Coty perfumes. Collectors of old perfume bottles will find a fascinating chapter on flacons. There is also a very illustrative chapter on the process of how flowers are transformed into essence. Other chapters are on the history of perfume and the big perfume houses. This is a superb book which truly captures the magic of perfume.

The novel for all perfume afficionados to read is 'Perfume - The Story of a Murderer' by Patrick Suskind. It is a masterpiece, a prowl of the streets and alleys of eighteenth-century France, the period in which Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI reigned. It is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the finest nose in Paris. Süskind describes the atmosphere in the quarters of the Sorbonne and the faubourg (suburb) Saint-Germain where the rich people lived. This is where Grenouille first smelled perfume in the literal sense...a simple lavender or rose water, with which the fountains of the gardens were filled on gala occasions....and costly scents...of musk mixed with oils of neroli and tuberose, jonquil, jasmine or cinnamon, that floated behind the carriages like rich ribbons on the evening breeze...