Overview
In this text the existence and importance of world systems of exchange becomes clear. In the pre-industrial world aromatic substances have always counted among the most prominent items of long-distance trade. The finest camphor came from Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra, but long-distance trade took it to societies at the geographical poles of demand - China and the medieval West - in late Antiquity (6th century AD). In India it was in use at an even earlier period. This monograph opens with a survey of aromata generally - origins, time and place of demand - from the Ancient Civilizations to the Age of Discoveries. Chapter two concerns the natural history of camphor, with subsequent chapters organized by regions, with a postscript on origins and diffusion. Evidence is drawn from an extensive range of sources in natural and cultural history.
Full Product Details
Author: Donkin
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Volume: 14
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.711kg
ISBN: 9789004109834
ISBN 10: 9004109838
Pages: 308
Publication Date: 21 January 1999
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
' ...an extremely valuable account with an encyclopaedic character it will become a standard reference work for many scholars and is likely to stimulate our appetite for more scholarly works of this type - commodity studies on little things which many theory-driven historians have tended to ignore during the last two decades. ' Roderich Ptak, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , 2000. ' ...Donkin's book is very useful for those who are interested in historical medicine, incenses, and perfumery. It also deals with cross-cultural trade appropriately .' Chen Kuo-Tung, Journal of the American Oriental Society , 2001. ' ...this book is of very great interest, and will be essential reference material for anyone concerned with trade and cultural exchange in the ancient world .' Claude Guillot, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient , 2001.
'.. .an extremely valuable account with an encyclopaedic characterit will become a standard reference work for many scholars and is likely to stimulate our appetite for more scholarly works of this type - commodity studies on little things which many theory-driven historians have tended to ignore during the last two decades.'<br>Roderich Ptak, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2000.<br>'.. .Donkin's book is very useful for those who are interested in historical medicine, incenses, and perfumery. It also deals with cross-cultural trade appropriately.'<br>Chin Kuo-Tung, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2001.<br>'.. .this book is of very great interest, and will be essential reference material for anyone concerned with trade and cultural exchange in the ancient world.'<br>Claude Guillot, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2001.<br>
Author Information
R.A. Donkin, Ph.D. (1953) Durham, Litt.D. (1993) Cambridge, is Emeritus Reader in Historical Geography and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He has published extensively in the field of historical geography, most recently Pearls and Pearl-fishing; Origins to the Age of Discoveries (American Philosophical Society, 1998).
