| Hello Ashby,
After reading your post I looked through my library of pearl books to determine which had the best historical information of pearls. After taking a look at the different 'history' chapters of each book I really feel that George Frederick Kunz's book as the most in depth information. Chapter 2 covers that era in such great detail. I think this is because the book was actually published in 1908 before pearl farming took hold. Newer books focus so much more on Mikimoto and Japanese pearl divers.
I have a few more books at home and I will look over those later. If there are any others I will let you know.
One other book you may be interested in is "Pearling in the Arabian Gulf" by Saif Marzooq al-Shamlan. Most pearls came from this area during the era you are re-enacting, although the book covers a time-line post 1700. |