Perfume Legends II French Feminine Fragrances By Michael Edwards

The cult book, updated. 52 legends, new insights, stunning images.

Revised and updated in 2019, Perfume Legends II presents new research, stunning images and eight new legends.

First published in 1996 and now considered one of the most significant books written on modern perfumery as creators, perfumers, couturiers, bottle designers and fragrance house executives spoke openly about their fragrances. The result was a gold mine of insight. 

Mr. Edwards, renowned perfume specialist and leading authority on fragrance classification (he’s been releasing his annual “Fragrances of the World” reference books since 1983) was the first author to give voice to the very people who had created some of the most beloved fragrances of all time: the perfumers themselves. His extensive interviews with them, as well as with brand owners, creative directors, bottle and fashion designers, were seamlessly blended with his own research and engaging story-telling, resulting in his substantial work “Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances”. At the time the book covered forty-five iconic scents (ranging from the end of the 19th century to 1992), and its tirage was soon exhausted; in fact, since the early 2000s, obtaining a copy has been a major goal of many a devoted perfumista. 

Fortunately, Mr. Edwards’ outstanding book is once more available, in a revised/updated 360-page edition enriched with nine additional “fragrance legends”, under the title “Perfume Legends II: French Feminine Fragrances”. Seven of the new chapters are dedicated to fragrances that were released after 1991 (Shiseido Féminité du Bois,  Maurice Roucel’s Rochas Tocade,  Calice Becker’s Dior J’Adore, FlowerbyKenzo, CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle,  Bertrand Duchaufour  for L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu, Frederic Malle’s Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion), while two more perfumes from previous decades, Robert Piguet Fracas and  Guerlain Nahéma, have also been also included (the former one had been omitted in 1996 due to its – then – mediocre formulation, the latter because it hadn’t been possible to discuss its creation with perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain).

Why Perfume Legends II after 20 years?

“In an age where so many perfumes have been changed, altered, or destroyed – if it were not for the Osmotheque or Perfume Legends how would we know where it all started, what it was meant to be and why it had such impact? I am the curator of the written perfume museum, therefore it was inevitable that the book had to be revised” - Michael Edwards