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A Guest Book Review
by Jan Thomas
Recently, I read a book that I just could not put down and thought I would pass a short review on to y'all. It is entitled, A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield. The author of this masterfully researched book is the granddaughter and great granddaughter of dyers. As a Marshall scholar at Oxford, she studied imperial Spain and Renaissance Europe. Both experiences combine to give her a unique perspective on the history of the quest for a perfect unfading red. Long sought after by royalty and religious leaders, it was the color of money, privilege, and power.
This is the story of search, discovery, and intrigue amid one of the most sought after colors in the world. Subterfuge constantly surrounded the pursuit of the dye produced by the cochineal beetle. The female, genus DACTYLOPIUS is several times smaller than a ladybug.
The most brilliant colors originate in Mexico where they are dried and crushed for transport. There, the cultivation conditions for the prickly pear cactus upon which the insects feed is excellent. The cochineal are, however, armed with a predator repelling substance, carminic acid, that produces a brilliant, fast, natural red that can also be manipulated with mordants to create other colors.
Greenfield weaves her colorful story from medieval days through to the rise and fall of kingdoms. She entwines history with the story of journeys in search of the elusive bug, and brings the reader up to the point of the discovery of synthetic dyes. In ending her tale, she states, "Red speeds our heartbeat and quickens our breath - visceral proof that even though the era of cochineal has ended, red remains in our blood."
To governments, new discoveries in the manufacture of textiles and their by-products were always sources of secrecy, economic supremacy, and pride. Countries were reduced to devising premeditated and provocative war-tempting methods of depriving others of those hard won secrets. The pursuit of cochineal, like lace techniques and industrialized weaving methods, left some men dead, some disgraced, and some rich beyond their wildest dreams.
What would the world be like without glorious red? Fortunately, we don't have to know. This wonderful book is a combination of excitement and fact packaged under one gorgeous cover. Thank you, Amy Butler Greenfield, for writing the best book I've read in a long time.
Thank you, Jan Thomas, for this lovely review! We concur that this book is riveting, and is definitely one to add to any textile fan's library.