Godey's Lady's Book, September 1835

-
September 1835

RECEIPTS.

EAU DE BOUQUET.

Take of sweet scented honey water 1 oz., eau sans pareille,* 1 1-2 do., essence de jasmin, 5 drachms, syrup of cloves and spirit of violets, each, 4 dr., calamus aromaticus,* long rooted cyperus,* lavender, each, 2 do., essence of neroli,* 1 scruple.* Mix. Some add a few grains of musk and ambergris: it is sweet scented, and also made into a ratafia with sugar.

* Eau sans pareille, "unequalled water," is another perfume, made with citrus fruits; you can see some recipes here. Calamus aromaticus is Acorus calamus, or sweet flag, and Asian plant historically used in medicine and perfumes. Cyperus is a genus containing hundreds of species of plants; I don't know which is meant here. Neroli is bitter orange. A scruple is 1/24 of an ounce.

ESSENCE DE JASMIN.

The flowers are stratified with wool or cotton, impregnated with oil of behu, or nut oil, in an earthen vessel, closely covered, and kept for some time in a warm bath; this is repeated with fresh flowers, until the oil is well scented; the wool, &c. is then put into a sufficient quantity of spirit of wine, and distilled in balneum mariae.*

* A balneum mariae is a bain-marie, which can refer to a double boiler or the more complicated system of putting whatever you're cooking into pots inside a tray of water, then baking it.

THE BEST HONEY WATER.

Take of coriander seeds a pound, cassia, 4 oz., cloves and gum benzoin,* each, 2 oz., oil of rhodium,* essence of lemon, essence of bergamot, and oil of lavender, each, 1 drachm, rectified spirit of wine, 20 pints, rose water, 2 quarts, nutmeg water, 1 quart, musk and ambergris, each, 12 grains. Distill it in a water bath to dryness.

Another method. -- Put 2 drachms each, of tincture of ambergris, and tincture of musk, in a quart of rectified spirits or wine, and half a pint of water; filter and put it up in small bottles.

* Benzoin is a tree resin used as a fixative for scents. Oil of rhodium is rosewood oil, distilled from Brazilian rosewood.

OTTAR OF ROSES.

The royal society of Edinburgh received from Dr. Monro the following account of the manner in which this costly perfume is prepared in the east. Steep a large quantity of the petals of the rose, freed from every extraneous matter, in pure water, in an earthen or wooden vessel, which is exposed daily to the sun, and housed at night, till a scum rises to the surface. This is the ottar, which carefully absorb by a very small piece of cotton tied to the end of a stick. The oil collected, squeeze out of the cotton into a very diminutive vial, stop it for use. The collection of it should be continued whilst any scum is produced.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pride and Prejudice 1995: The Little Things

-
Image
I did threaten to write about the Ehle/Firth Pride and Prejudice , and since I'm in a writing mood without a topic I decided to make good. Regency adaptations tend to go for an overall accurate look, interpreting age and income within the confines of realistic silhouettes and colors, and so they avoid the scrutiny and reputation that a more obviously artistic and unrealistic production garners. But just as this version of P&P  is not entirely faithful in every respect (e.g. the added Darcy-perspective scenes, the actors nearly all being significantly older than their characters - perhaps the most egregious example being Julia Sawalha in her late twenties playing teenage Lydia), Dinah Hill's costuming is not entirely accurate - mainly in ways that make the period more appealing to modern tastes. The exact date when the story is set is never given; generally, the movie's taken to be set in 1813, when the book was published. I'm not going to go into the full story of...
Read more

A Difficult History: Corsetry and Feminism, Part One

-
Image
Recently, I began following a couple of Tumblr blogs focusing on waist training and daily corset wear. Daily wear is not for me, waist training even less so, but I find it an interesting practice. It is also a controversial one. For example, a recent Huffington Post article, " Corset Queen Penny Brown Loves Getting 'Waisted' ," drew comments which were nearly all extremely negative, as do most articles that bring the practice to mainstream attention. Usually, the mental states of the women who waist-train are called into question, and there are numerous references to feminism as incompatible with corsets. The general idea is that the first wave feminists of the late 19th and early 20th century would be horrified by women today wearing them, and that their assumed reaction is an objective statement on the practice. My feeling is that the subject is complex, and cannot be simply declared feminist or unfeminist. There are far more factors than the average internet comm...
Read more

Pattern Time: 1860s Chemise

-
Image
For my 150th post ( \o/ ), a quick little pattern someone might find useful. When I was working my way through a box a few weeks ago, I came across a chemise that didn't quite want to lay flat.  I took a closer look at it to figure out why, and noticed that it had a unique construction with the sleeves cut in one with the body and gussets inserted in the neckline.  I did a really quick sketch of the cutting layout and measured the important bits, so that when I got home I could draw it up in proportion on graph paper. (nb. I messed up. I've been noticing it for a while, but didn't want to point it out from shame, but I accidentally gave the neckline length as it is when gathered - the horizontal cut should be much longer, to within about four inches of the side seam. Please correct for this when making your own version.)
Read more