I hope this doesn’t sound like an advertisement, but I wanted to let you know about a potential reference tool for textile and costume historians that is located in an unlikely source -- my economist husband Donald Wellington’s recent book French East India Companies; a historical account and record of trade. (Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2006)
An appendix of nearly 80 pages records in detail the cargoes sold at company auctions held from 1687 to 1769. Since Indian and other oriental textiles were one of the principal commodities that the companies imported into France, historians can use these tables to document the types of cloth coming into France in different periods. And since the fabrics were often recorded by their obscure Indian names (and those in variant spellings!), Donald also included a detailed glossary as an additional appendix.
I hope this can be of help to someone!
Jean Susorney Wellington
Classics Librarian Emerita
University of Cincinnati