Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights

Publishers Information

About Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights

Publisher Web Link: http://nan-a-talese.knopfdoubleday.com/

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite is a lifestyle guide for the Francophile and the Anglomaniac, the gourmet and the style maven, the armchair traveler and the art lover. It’s an homage to the esoteric world of glamour that doesn’t require much spending but makes us feel rich.

Taking a cue from the exotic encyclopedias of the sixteenth century, which brimmed with mysterious artifacts, Jessica Kerwin Jenkins’s Encyclopedia of the Exquisite focuses on the elegant, the rare, the commonplace, and the delightful. A com­pendium of style, it merges whimsy and practicality, traipsing through the fine arts and the worlds of fashion, food, travel, home, garden, and beauty.

Each entry features several engaging anecdotes, illuminating the curious past of each enduring source of beauty. Subjects covered include the explosive history of champagne; the art of lounging on a divan; the emergence of “frillies,” the first lacy, racy lingerie; the ancient uses of sweet-smelling saffron; the wild riot incited by the appearance of London’s first top hat; Julia Child’s tip for cooking the perfect omelet; the polarizing practice of wearing red lipstick during World War II; Louis XIV’s fondness for the luscious Bartlett pear; the Indian origin of badminton; Parliament’s 1650 attempt to suppress Europe’s beauty mark fad; the evolution of the Japanese kimono; the pil­grimage of Central Park’s Egyptian obelisk; and the fanciful thrill of dining alfresco.

Cleverly illustrated, Encyclopedia of the Exquisite is an ode to life’s plenty, from the extravagant to the eccentric. It is a cele­bration of luxury that doesn’t necessarily require money.

Author Information

About Jessica Kerwin Jenkins

Author Web Link: http://www.jessicakerwinjenkins.com/

Jessica Kerwin Jenkins was a reporter and an editor at Women’s Wear Daily in New York, and worked in Paris as European editor for W magazine. She currently lives on the coast of Maine and writes for Vogue.

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite is her first book.

“These entries sprang directly from a file I kept on my desk, bulging with scribbled scraps, newspaper articles, quotes and curious images I’d found—anything that lit a spark, dazzled me or made the world seem suddenly vast and strange. In my mind I called the collection, ‘Why I Like It Here,’ ‘here’ meaning on the planet. If I was having a bad day, flipping through the file could sweep me into a dreamy demimonde where things didn’t seem so bad.

Beyond the examples of the exquisite, which you’ll find in the book, and sometimes on this site, I also hope that the central ideas behind the Encyclopedia—that with searching, beauty can be found in the most unlikely places, that folly is essential, and that luxury doesn’t mean spending lots of money—will deliver a happiness with the potential to make all our lives that much more exquisite.”

This blog was started after the book was finished and sent off to her editors. She wasn’t done searching.

Cookbooks by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights

by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins