Silk Seed Growers – Silkworm Seeds from the Levant
Have you read Alescendro Baricco's book "Silk"? Well, here you are with a reading experience that reflects both love and history. Imagine our René Ortel in the role of the main character, entering Japan in 1865. Was he the first to set foot on the island, closed to foreigners?
Around 1850… Upstream from the village, in the localities of Mas Galabert and Serret, lived Charles Victor Bourbon and Alonzo Gal, as well as Frédéric Mazauric, René Ortel, Gédéon Martin, and Auguste Duga. They were all friends, all from the same village. And all ready to revive the village economy following the devastating disease that began in 1850: "pébrine," this epizootic disease of the silkworm.
For this, healthy seeds are needed to combat and prevent the ruin of the country! They become silk growers but above all traders.
They all initially set off for Italy and Greece. Then on to Turkey, Syria, Moldova… A vast network was established in these distant countries, involving many people from the Cévennes region and others from all over Europe. Once there, they organized themselves and employed local labor to prepare the following year's silkworm eggs. Above all, the eggs had to be brought back before they hatched! But with each trip, they carried and spread disease. In 1862, Charles Victor Bourbon left for Nukha in the Caucasus. His expedition lasted five months and brought back over 600 kg of silkworm eggs, much to the delight of the silkworm breeders! Raw materials were scarce in the mills, so the spinners ordered "dry cocoons for spinning."
Charles Victor Bourbon traveled to Japan in 1868 without his friend Alonzo, who was too tired from these journeys and, ill, died in 1870 at the age of 53. Charles Victor Bourbon continued his adventure, contributing to the enormous growth of the sericulture industry worldwide. He died in 1889.
Silk Museum
Silk Museum
Silk Museum