nappies 1
Nathan, Joseph 1
National Portrait Gallery (London) 1
Nature 1, 2
Nesbitt, Antony 1
Nesselrode, Karl Vasilyevich 1
Nesselrode pudding 1
Netherwood, Penny 1
New York Globe 1
New York Herald 1
New York Times 1
Nicholls, John 1
Nichols, William 1
Nicholson, Edward 1
nitroglycerine 1
nitrosophenyline 1
Novocain 1
nucleic acid 1
nylon 1, 2
Old Vic Theatre 1
Owen, Richard 1
Owens College 1
Oxford University 1, 2, 3
Paddy’s Goose (pub) 1
pain relief 1, 2
Pantone 1
paratartaric acid 1
Partridge, William 1
Pasteur, Louis 1
patents: alizarin 1, 2; disputes 1, 2, 3, 4;
French 1, 2;
original aniline dye patent (1856) 1, 2
PE Applied Biosystems 1
Peel, Robert 1, 2
Pelletier, Pierre Joseph 1
penicillin 1
perfumery 1, 2
Perkin, Alexandrine Caroline Mollwo (William’s second wife) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Perkin, Annie (William’s daughter) 1
Perkin, Arthur George (William’s son) 1, 2, 3
Perkin, Frederick Mollwo (William’s son) 1, 2
Perkin, George Fowler (William’s father): as carpenter 1; death 1;
dye works and 1, 2, 3;
William’s education and 1, 2
Perkin, Helen Mary (William’s daughter) 1
Perkin, Jemima Lissett (William’s first wife) 1, 2, 3
Perkin, Sacha Emilie (William’s daughter) 1
Perkin, Sarah (William’s mother) 1
Perkin, Thomas Dix (William’s brother) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; death 1;
sale of factory and 1, 2;
as Squire of Greenford 1
Perkin, Thomas (William’s grandfather) 1
Perkin, William: alizarin production 1, 2, 3; aminoazonaphthalene and 1;
analysis of madder 1, 2;
antecedents 1;
awards and celebrations for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7;
birthplace 1;
burial 1, 2, 3;
childhood and youth 1;
commercial exploitation of aniline dyes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6;
death 1, 2;
departure from dyeing industry 1;
discovery of aniline dyes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6;
education 1, 2;
experiments on synthesising quinine 1;
family 1;
final illness 1, 2;
finance for dye production 1;
homes 1, 2, 3;
indigo and 1, 2, 3;
interest in chemistry 1, 2;
mauve dye 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11;
obituaries 1;
patent problems 1, 2, 3;
poisoning scares and 1, 2;
portrait 1, 2;
retirement 1;
sale of factory and 1, 2;
scientific research 1, 2;
as student at Royal College of Chemistry 1, 2, 3;
teetotalism 1, 2, 3;
in USA (1906) 1;
wealth 1;
will 1
Perkin, William Henry (William’s son) 1, 2, 3
Perkin Collection 1
Perkin Library 1, 2
Perkin Medal 1, 2, 3, 4
Perkin & Sons: construction of factory 1; formation 1;
International Exhibition of 1862 and 1;
profits 1, 2;
research 1, 2;
sale of 1, 2
phenol 1, 2, 3
Phillips, David 1
photo-dynamic therapy 1
photography 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
phthalocyanines 1, 2
picric acid 1, 2, 3, 4
pittacal 1
plastics 1
Playfair, Lord 1, 2
Pliny the Elder 1, 2, 3
poisoning scares 1, 2
Polykoff, Shirley 1
polythene 1
Pomeroy, F. W. 1
porphyrins 1
postage stamps 1
preservatives 1
press gangs 1
Procions 1
Procter & Gamble 1, 2
proguanil 1
Prontosil 1
Proust, Marcel 1
Pullar, John 1
Pullar, Robert 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Pullars of Perth 1, 2; dry cleaning and 1, 2;
original mauve dye and 1, 2, 3
Punch 1, 2, 3, 4
quinidine 1
quinine 1, 2, 3, 4
Rabe, Paul 1
Randolph, Jane 1
Rawson, Charles 1
rayon 1
reactive dyes 1
Read Holliday 1, 2, 3, 4
Remsen, Ira 1, 2
Renard Frères & Franc 1, 2, 3, 4
rheumatism 1
Ripley & Son 1
Roberts, Dale & Co 1, 2, 3
Robinson, Bruce 1
Robiquet, Pierre 1
Rockefeller, John D. 1
Rogers, H. H. 1
Roosevelt, Theodore 1
Rose, Frank L. 1
Ross, Ronald 1
Rotary Rocket 1
Rowe, F. M. 1
Royal Academy 1
Royal College of Chemistry 1, 2, 3: annual report (1849) 1;
foundation 1, 2;
merger with School of Mines 1;
Perkin as student 1, 2, 3
Royal College of Science 1
Royal Institution 1, 2
Royal Navy 1
Royal Society 1, 2, 3, 4; Proceedings 1
Runge, Friedlieb 1, 2
saccharin 1
safety match 1
St Denis Dyestuff and Chemical Co. 1
St Paul’s Church (Shadwell) 1
salicylic acid 1
Salisbury, Marquess of 1
Salvarsan 1
Santa Ana Evening Blade 1
Sappington, John 1
Scheele, Karl Wilhelm 1
School of Mines 1
Schultz, Dave 1
Schultz, Nancy 1
Schunck, Henry Edward 1
Schweitzer, Hugo 1
Science Museum (London) 1, 2
Scott, George Gilbert 1
Second World War 1
Self, Will 1
Shadwell (London) 1, 2
Shaw, John 1
Shell Chemical Co 1
shellac 1
Sidebotham, Joseph 1
Sidebottom, Alfred 1
Silvester, J. W. P. 1
Simpson, O. J. 1, 2
Simpson, Richard 1
Simpson, Maule and Nicholson 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
soap baths 1
Société Chimique de Paris 1
Société Industrielle de Mulhouse 1, 2, 3
Society of Arts 1, 2, 3, 4
Society of Chemical Industry 1, 2, 3
Society of Dyers and Colourists 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; Journal 1, 2
Spencer, Paul F. 1
Springmuhl, Dr 1
stamps 1
Startin, James 1, 2, 3
strychnine 1
sulphur 1, 2
sulphuric acid 1
superglue 1
syphilis 1
Taine, Hippolyte 1
Takayama, Jintaro 1
Talk 1
Technische Hochschule of Munich 1
Tencel 1, 2
textile industries 1, 2
Thackeray, William 1
Thomson, Thomas 1
Times, The 1, 2, 3, 4
Tokyo Chemical Society 1
toluene 1
toluidine 1
Townsend, J. H. 1
Tremain, Rose 1
Tribune 1
tuberculosis 1, 2, 3
Turner, J. M. W. 1
Twain, Mark 1
Tyre 1
Unilever 1
Unverdorben, Otto 1
Velcro 1
Verguin, Emmanuel 1, 2
Victoria, Queen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Victoria Cross 1
Vidler, Don 1
Virgin Atlantic 1
wallpaper 1, 2
Walpole, Horace 1
Wardle, Thomas 1
Washington DC 1
waterproofing 1
Waters, Arthur H. (William Perkin’s nephew) 1, 2, 3, 4
Waters, Mrs (William Perkin’s sister) 1
Weigert, Carl 1
Weizmann, Chaim 1, 2
Wesley, John 1
Westwood, Vivienne 1
Whittaker, C. M. 1
Wilde, Oscar 1
Williams, Charles Greville 1
Williams, Robert 1
Williams Bros and Elkin 1
Witco, C. K. 1
Witt, Otto 1
woad 1, 2, 3, 4
Wolfe, A. E. 1
Wolfe, Tom 1
Wood, Mr 1, 2
wood stains 1
Woodward, Joseph Janvier 1
Woodward, Robert 1
Worth, Charles 1
Worth and Bobergh 1
Woulfe, Peter 1
Yorkshire Chemicals 1
Zeneca 1, 2
Zyklon B 1
1 William Perkin in black-and-white: a self-portrait at 14; Dr August Hofmann, who thought his protégé was wasting his time; Perkin the inventor with his second wife Alexandrine in 1870.
2 ‘The torch which enlightens the path of the explorer in the dark regions of the interior of the molecule’ — but to the dyer all that mattered was brilliance: a recipe book from 1868, and the mauve, alizarin, crystals and cloth that changed the colour of our streets.
3 ‘Luring on foolish bachelors to sudden proposals’: a silk dress dyed with original mauve in 1862.
4 An object of ridicule, an object of pride: gaudy, fugitive and poisonous, but the new colours proved irresistible to fashionable Paris and London.
5 ‘A miracle that Perkin did not blow himself and Greenford Green to pieces’: Perkin (second from right), his brother Thomas (second from left) and fellow dyemakers delight in their continued good health in the field outside their dye works. The sketches show the expansion from 1858 to 1873.
6 Fame at last: at the British Association meeting in 1906, Perkin’s illustrious colleagues paid tribute to a pioneer, but his name would soon be forgotten.
7 The grand old master at 68, and the house that mauve built. The Perkin Medal has since been won for innovations in nylon, vitamins and medicines.
8 What dyes did next: a catwalk model in Paco Rabanne, and a stained micrograph of the serpentine cords of tuberculosis bacteria.
About the Author
Simon Garfield was born in 1960. He is the author of Expensive Habits: The Dark Side of the Industry, The End of Innocence: Britain in the Time of AIDS, which was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize, The Wrestling, The Nation’s Favourite: The True Adventures of Radio 1, Mauve, The Last Journey of William Huskisson, The Error World and the Mass Observation trilogy Our Hidden Lives, Private Battles and We Are At War. Mini: The True and Secret History of the Making of a Motor Car was published in 2009.
Copyright
First published in 2000
by Faber and Faber Ltd
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Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2013
All rights reserved
© Simon Garfield, 2000
The right of Simon Garfield to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–26546–6
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