is this a question for a botanist or a geographer?
I have some very vague memory that Brazil may be
named for one of those mysterious places (like Atlantis
or the land of prester john) much spoken of but
never located in the MA. in that case
"brazilwood" need not be from modern Brazil
MC
> At 09:34 PM 4/20/98 -0400, you wrote:
> >
> >-Hi all---
> >
> >>Forgive me, but if "brazilwood" was from Brazil, it was an export from the
> >>Portugese colony in South America and was not available until the early
> >>1500's, Jim
> >
> >Not according to my sources (the HMSO book I quoted earlier).
> >
> >"A third red dye which might be expected in any large group of medieval
> >textiles is brazilwood, obtained from the heartwood of trees of the
> >_Caesalpinia_ family. This dye seems to have been imported into Europe from
> >at least the late 12th century (Brunello 1973, 130-31, 137)." Goes on to
> >say that it is hard to detect in textiles which have been buried, but has
> >been positively identified in textiles surviving from aboveground.
> >
> >Brunello is Brunello, F. _The Art of Dyeing in the History of Mankind_,
> >published in Italy in 1973.
> >
> >Cheers--
> >Susan Carroll-Clark
> >
> >
> >
> Dear Susan,
> Conflicting authorities! The Encyclopedia Brittanica , Vol 4 page 61.
> Brazil wood, Haematoxylon brasiletto, ranges from Mexico to Columbia and
> Venezuela.
> To clear up my possible confusion, I checked "logwood" the source of another
> reddish brown dyestuff.
> Vol 14, page 337. Log wood, Haematoxylon campechianum, imported into Europe
> soon after the discovery of South America.
> These two dye sources appear to be of a different family than the
> "brazilwood" (Caesalpinia) Susan cited from Crowfoot and others. Could
> "brazilwood" be a dyestuff imported from Africa?
> Perhaps a botanist can clear up my confusion.
> Jim
Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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