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Summary: Great Insight for the Expert and New Collector Alike
Review: After Longitude, I was hooked on "eclectic" history, and The Arcanum just what I was looking for.However, I was very frustrated by the poor writing that watered down a very interesting story.
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Summary: A true story which reads like a fairytale
Review: Feuding royals! Splendid palaces! Demands for gold! Artistic genius! Secret chemical experiments! No, it's not science fiction and it's not a tale by Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm. It's the true story of how porcelain came to the western world and changed it: artistically, economically, politically. You don't need to be remotely interested in porcelain or European history to be drawn in by this superb account of porcelain's western origins. As European nobility competed in ever more rarefied circles for prestige and power, the quest for making porcelain like that perfected by the Chinese became the preferred avenue for cementing one's social position. Gleeson tells the tale of Johann Bottger, an unfortunate young man who bragged once too often of his supposed alchemical powers. His boasts caught the ear of German Prince Augustus, who had Bottger kidnapped, set him up with a lab while keeping him incarcerated, and demanded that Bottger figure out how to produce porcelain. After many, many years and many, many false starts, Bottger did just that and the course of European history was unalterably changed. This is an absolutely fascinating story, told at a breakneck pace and with wonderful detail.
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Summary: Splendidly told history always pleases
Review: If you enjoy splendidly written historical stories, this is a must read. I must admit that the story started to lose its lustre around the time that Meissen loses its lustre; but, in its entirety, the book is a must read. If you've read The Professor and the Madman, this story is equally enthralling.
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Summary: Pleasant Read
Review: Janet Gleeson is not a storyteller. This becomes apparent as she pops between explaining the arcanum, porcelain making, political strife and the lives of the people involved. The subjects are so compelling, however, that you will not mind too much. It is apparent, too, that she has a passion for the subject of porcelain making, and she does manage to infuse the reader with her interest.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant Read
Review: Janet Gleeson is not a storyteller. This becomes apparent as she pops between explaining the arcanum, porcelain making, political strife and the lives of the people involved. The subjects are so compelling, however, that you will not mind too much. It is apparent, too, that she has a passion for the subject of porcelain making, and she does manage to infuse the reader with her interest.
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Summary: a great tale of greed
Review: Janet Gleeson's THE ARCANUM is a fascinating history of the "discovery" of porcelain by the Europeans. During the reign of Augustus the Strong, European royalty strived for political and financial superiority over one another. Their quest for riches led to the "science" of alchemy: turning lead into gold. He who had the power would rule absolutely, or so they thought. Joseph Bottger was brought to the imperial court at Augustus' behest to unlock the secrets of alchemy. During his endless experiments, he stumbled upon a process for creating porcelain which in turn gave rise to the Meissen factory of world renown today. Bottger at one point attempted escape, and was captured and returned to the castle's laboratory. He was spared his life only because he was able to convince Augustus of the potential wealth the manufacture of porcelain could bring. So began Bottger's lifelong work of refining the porcelain's quality with particular regard to the purity of its color and opacity. He spent decades in the bowels of the palace, for weeks at a time under inhumane working conditions. The firing rooms and the ovens they contained produced not only unbearably high temperatures, but noxious and often fatal fumes that would be likened to today's black lung disease suffered by coal miners. Ms. Gleeson's tale is not only one of great wealth, but of the dire consequences that befell the not only Augustus, but all of Europe. Wars were fought not only for religion, but also for the desire to control the porcelain markets. Educational and quite suspenseful. Excellent history lesson, Ms. Gleeson!
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Summary: Porcelain From Dresden
Review: Porcelain, the ceramics world's equivalent of gold, is among humankind's most celebrated and beautiful inventions: the perfect porcelain item is translucent, and infinite variations of usage exist for it. It was notoriously expensive because for centuries it could only be obtained overland, through China - some thought it was created by magic, and even among educated people despaired that the sands and clays necessary to make it would be unavailable in the West. All until a rather mad semi-conman, who had already been chucked out of one royal house, lucked upon the patronage of the Elector of Saxony, and then lucked upon the winning formula, thus bringing the art of porcelain-making to the West. For about a generation, Dresden had the monopoly on porcelain manufacturing; following that, industrial spies were able to sell the secret to France (Sevres) and various other European capitals. Nevertheless, Meissen porcelain is still celebrated as Europe's best. Gleeson's story is an excellent recapturing of the strange conventions of the seventeenth and eighteenth century economies and the strange means by which one might make one's fortune under the ancien regime. She is also blessed by some truly colorful characters: Bottger the fortunate (if not accidental)inventor; Herold the painter (who found a way of decorating and tinting the porcelain), and the Elector himself, who was ruthless enough to hold Bottger prisoner until he yielded the formula.
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Summary: Interesting history of german porcelain making
Review: The Arcanum is the history of making porcelain in the seventeenth century in Germany. The search started when an alchemist who was looking for "the philosopher's stone" to transmute base metals into gold, failed at his search but came up with the secret formula for making hardpaste porcelain in Europe for the first time. Greedy kings play a large part, and wars are an integral part of the story. This book would definitely have benefited from the inclusion of photographs of some of the old pieces that are in museums today.
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Summary: The development of Europe
Review: There were many advances during the rennaisance era in Europe that are far reaching. You would think that something so ephemeral as a luxury item wouldn't have much impact, but history demonstrates otherwise. Deception, espionage, war, and even treason were common occurences in 17th and 18th century Europe. All that in pursuit of the secrets for making porcelain is conceptually challenging to say the least. When one alchemist searching for the legendary philospher's stone performs one illusion too many, he finds himself a "guest" of Augustus the Strong until he provides him with the gold he needs to pay for his extravagantly decadent life style. Fortunately, for the alchemist, he's bright and talented, and just may provide the king with another type of gold to keep the executioner at bay. The Arcanum, is well written and researched with an extensive bibliography. I was very impressed with the level of scholarship exhibited by Ms. Gleeson. Considering the subject matter, and my preconceptions, I was suitably suprised and impressed at what I learned.
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Summary: Extraordinary story all right - well worth reading
Review: This is one of those 'can't-put-downable' real-life true stories where the truth is stranger than fiction, and in Janet Gleeson's capable hands (or under her capable pen) the story, in all its astounding details unfolds beautifully. Gleeson does rate as one of my favourite authors and she does have the knack of picking out incredibly interesting stories that are peopled with the most astonishing cast of characters. In this case it is the search for the 'recipe' for porcelain, the Arcanum as it was called. It was one of the great mysteries for eighteenth century Europe - the discovery of how it was made was on a par with discovering the philosoper's stone - or the recipe to turn base metals into gold. And in fact the book starts off with a charlatan alchemist (Johann Frederick Böttger) who claims he has discovered this recipe or arcanum. Unfortunately Bottger becomes a prisoner of his wealthy patron who realises that he is worth more as a captive working for him, than as a free-agent roaming around. Forced to experiment Bottger inardvertently stumbles across the arcanum for Pocelain. Gleeson then shows the lives of other men such as Johan Gregor Herold, an ambitious artist, developed colors and patterns of unparalleled brilliance at the newly established Meissen Porcelain Manufacture; and Johann Joachim Kaendler, a virtuoso sculptor who used the Meissen porcelain to invent a new art form. The story is one of greed, incredible artistry and innovation and all set against the political ambitions of a warlike and ever-changing European landscape. Gleeson's true skill is in the way she draws out the detail to people the landscape with lifelike and reaslistic detail without cluttering us with dull information or specious descriptions. She is immensely readable, bringing the story and the people alive.
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