The Arcanum (32 page)

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Apart from the wealth of scholars on whose published research I have relied, I am deeply indebted to a host of individuals,
among them many experts of international renown, who have generously offered me their assistance and advice. I am enormously
grateful to Gordon Lang of Sotheby's—with whom I was privileged to collaborate on a Miller's collector's guide to ceramics,
when the idea for this book was born—for reading my manuscript and guiding my research. I would also like to thank Dr. Friedrich
Reichel of the Dresden Porcelain Museum, who responded so patiently to all my queries and escorted me around the collection;
thank you also to Dr. Ulrich Pietsch of the Dresden Porcelain Museum; Dr. Hans Sonntag of the Meissen Manufactory; Jurgen
Schärer, Meissen archivist; Robin Hillyard of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Sebastian Kuhn of Sotheby's; Christine
Battle; Inge Heckmann-Walther, one of J. E Böttger's direct descendants; Leticia Roberts; translators Eva Roth, Jane Ennis,
Hannelore Woolnough, Gisela Parker, Barney Perkins and staff at the National Art Library; and the endlessly patient Philip
Stokes of the British Library, who helped trace innumerable obscure German texts. Above all, I should like to thank my agent,
Christopher Little, for his inspiring enthusiasm and unfailing support.

^*
A thaler was worth roughly 5 shillings (25 pence) in the eighteenth century, so Augustus's expenditure was equivalent to
£10,000—in modern terms something like £650,000 (given that a pound sterling today is worth roughly sixty-five times more).

A
womanizing, hard-drinking, and luxury-loving king…a brash young alchemist imprisoned in a squalid dungeon…an artistic genius who virtually enslaved his apprentices—all locked in an amazing true story of greed, cruelty, and beauty…

Bestselling author Janet Gleeson takes us back to the eighteenth century, a time when royal fiercely rivaled each other for sheer opulence. Today, nearly three centuries after the formula—the “arcanum”—for making porcelain was finally revealed in Europe, it is scarcely remembered that title “white gold” was once so precious that men went to war for it, stole for it, and gave their lives for it. THE ARCANUM brings Europe’s breathtaking race for the arcanum to vivid life…and introduces us to the larger-than-life figures who created a legacy still treasured around the world.

“Compelling… wonderful… in the clever hands of Gleeson,
the story gallops to life.”–
USA
TODAY

“
At once a guide collectors, a chemistry lesson, and a glimpse into a brutal and elegant chapter of history.”—
THE NEW YORKER

J
ANET
G
LEESON
has a degree in both art history and English. A journalist who has published numerous articles on art and antiques, she has worked at Sotheby’s, as well as at Bonham’s Auctioneers.