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The British chemical industry and the indigo trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Anthony S. Travis ,
Willem J. Hornix ,
Robert Bud  and
Peter Reed
Peter Reed
Affiliation:
National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, 127 Dale Street, Liverpool L69 3LA.
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Extract

Even before the success of William Perkin's mauve at the end of the 1850s, there were attempts to synthesize artificial dyes that were identical with those found in nature. Alizarin, the dye derived from the madder root, was the first to be investigated, and it was Perkin who was to file for a patent in June 1869 just one day before the German chemists Heinrich Caro, Carl Graebe and Carl Liebermann. Rivalry between the parties soon turned to negotiations and collaboration. Perkin's company retained the British trade, while the Germans, in the form of the Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik (BASF) controlled the continental European and United States markets. This and similar agreements extinguished the madder trade, and subsequently artificial alizarin passed almost completely to the Germans. They achieved a monopoly by dictating the level and prices of supplies, which did much to diminish the strength of the dye-making industry in Britain. The formation in 1882–83 of the British Alizarine Company did little to redress the overall balance. This taught British dye firms a tough lesson. The same, they hoped, would not be allowed to happen again, even when the attention of the German research chemists turned to indigo.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal for the History of Science , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , March 1992 , pp. 113 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © British Society for the History of Science 1992

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References

The following are thanked for their invaluable assistance with this article: Tony Travis, Sidney M. Edelstein Center, Jerusalem; Ken Magee, historical archivist of ICI Specialties, Blackley, Manchester; the staff of the Municipal Research Service, Liverpool City Libraries; Steve Van Dulken, Patent Office, London.

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