A Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette's Perfumer

The untold story of Marie Antoinette's perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon, is revealed in A Scented Palace. Fargeon's boutique became one of the most elegant and well-patronized in France, and he created lavish bespoke scents for the queen. Through his relations with the royal court, the reader is granted privileged access to the world of Marie Antoinette, including her fascination with dress and fashions. The book also touches on many aspects of life in eighteenth-century France, such as the development of a bourgeois family and career, the suffering of hungry Parisians, and the development of the cosmetics and perfume industry.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 11 November 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Montpellier, 1748: Jean-Louis Fargeon, born into a family of perfumers, embarked on a journey to fulfill his dream of becoming the perfumer to the young queen, Marie Antoinette. With unwavering ambition, he ventured to Paris, where his boutique rose to prominence as one of the most elegant and well-patronized in France. Fargeon's creations, crafted with exquisite ingredients and meticulous procedures meticulously documented in the book's appendices, captured the attention of the queen. After a chance encounter in the Trianon Palace, he began crafting bespoke scents that perfectly reflected Marie Antoinette's moods and personality. Through his close relations with the royal court, spanning fourteen years as the queen's personal and exclusive perfumer, the reader gains privileged access to the world of Marie Antoinette.

A Scented Palace delves into various aspects of Marie Antoinette's life, including her profound fascination with dress and fashions, which played a significant role in her eventual downfall. Fargeon's story encompasses the development of a bourgeois family and career, the plight of hungry Parisians leading to revolt, and an in-depth exploration of the cosmetics and perfume industry during the Enlightenment. The vivid descriptions of Parisian society and commerce offer a captivating window into the lives of people during this turbulent chapter of French history.

Weight: 174g
Dimension: 136 x 216 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780755647149