Ceramics Books and Magazines

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.


Great Insight for the Expert and New Collector Alike   September 7, 2001
This is a fascinating true account of the development of European porcelain, the monumental effort to protect its secret, and the resulting struggle to acquire it by any means. Great commuter listening.


OUTSTANDING   August 30, 2001
This is an outstanding book and is ineresting from the first page to the last.
I recently read "What Painting Is?" which is about alchemy and the language of alchemy. Although this is a far more difficult book, it is fascinating to read about liquids, vapors, ice, etc. This is a recommendation in addition to Arcanum. The two go hand in hand.
My compliments to the author.


Very interesting, but needs an editor.   August 8, 2001
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.


Extraordinary story all right - well worth reading   August 3, 2001
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

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.