Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #452168 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 324 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Since the middle ages, Western Europeans have practised alchemy, a primitive form of chemistry, in the great hope of transforming base metal into gold. In the early 18th century, a second great secret puzzled Western Europe's early scientists: how to make porcelain. Recently arrived from the Orient, porcelain quickly became a symbol of power, prestige and good taste. In The Arcanum, Janet Gleeson presents an entertaining and informative account of the invention of European porcelain and the founding of the Meissen Porcelain Manufacture outside Dresden, Germany. Her narrative focuses on three individuals: alchemist Johann Frederick Böttger inadvertently discovered the arcanum, or secret formula, for making porcelain; Johan Gregor Herold, an ambitious artist, developed colours and patterns of unparalleled brilliance at the newly established Meissen Porcelain Manufacture; Johann Joachim Kaendler, a virtuoso sculptor, used the Meissen porcelain to invent a new art form. Interwoven with the story of Augustus the Strong, the greedy and ambitious king of the Kingdom of Saxony, who held Böttger captive until he discovered the formula, Gleeson's tale reads easily and maintains a high level of suspense and intrigue throughout. --Bertina Loeffler, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Tells the story of how the West learned to make porcelain, focusing on Bottger, who discovered the arcanum, or secret formula; and Herold and Kandler, artists at the new Meissen Porcelain Manufacture.

From the Back Cover
Imprisoned in a fairy-tale castle and under constant threat of execution by his ruthless captor, an 18th-century apothecary struggled to realize the alchemist's dream. His name was Johann Frederick Bottger. But instead of transforming base metal into gold he was to discover the formula for something even more exotic and elusive, a substance so precious it was known as 'white gold'. And it was a formula for which others were prepared to lie, cheat, steal and even kill to possess...

This was the remarkable backdrop to one of the most strange and compelling episodes in European cultural and scientific history: a tale of genius and greed, of demonic cruelty and exquisite beauty, of the best and worst of which man is capable - it is the true story of the invention of European porcelain.

Customer Reviews

Outstanding - educational and gripping too
Janet Gleeson has written a corking book. Outstanding research, coupled with a very non-academic eye for a good story has resulted in this superb tale.

I bought this book on the strength of my (admittedly dubious) logic of 'It's such a stupid subject to write about, it MUST be good!'. And this is also the main example I use of my technique working!

Full of kidnapping, imprisonment, murder, intrigue, etc.etc.etc, this is also a fascinating insight into the lives of the aristocracy in 18th century Germany (and of the less fortunate too). Janet Glesson picks up on the significance of the famous 'recipe' for porcelain and explains it with an easy style.

It's one of those rare books - as easy and engrossing to read as a good novel, but superbly enlightening with it.

Buy it - you won't regret it.

History at its best
This is truly a very good book: informative, exciting, well-researched, well-written, you name it! I'm sure that it may seem odd to apply adjectives such as 'exciting' or 'fascinating' to a book on the invention of European porcelain (porcelain?!) if you weren't even remotely interested in the subject before (I would have thought so myself too) but as soon as I began to read this book it had me in its grip until the very last page.

This is at least as good as any fictional thriller, and if you've enjoyed 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel you'll love this one too.

An outstanding work of research
Janet Gleeeson takes us on an intricate and spell-binding tour of eighteen century Saxony as she breath-takingly relates the history of porcelain through three of its major players. The story of the aracanum produces a history lesson and detective novel in one as court misdemeanors and everyday life are revealed in all their glory. Everything is revaled from sexually transmitted diseases to the swapping of a vase for a dragoon of soldiers. Read this and enjoy the tutorial for the labour of love that it is.