Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story »

At the dawn of the Age of Reason, some of the finest minds in eighteenth-century Europe were pursuing the alchemist's dream: to discover the secret formula for transforming base metal into gold. Geniuses and charlatans, noblemen and fools, even monarchs competing for greater wealth found themselves joining the epic quest for...

The Arcanum

The extravagant Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, had an insatiable appetite for amassing objects and artifacts of whose beauty-unlike that of his many mistresses-he would never tire. Like a peacock, he fanned his opulent feathers in a show of political dominance, while his palace grew into a wonderland of sugar plums and jewel-encrusted costumes. There was only one problem: His funds were dwindling.

The immediate answer seemed to lie with a nineteen-year-old alchemist named Johann Frederick Böttger, whose boastful claims of gold-making caught the attention of the greedy king. Imprisoned in a horrible dungeon, Böttger was commanded to find the arcanum...or suffer the deadly consequences. But salvation for the young alchemist would come in an unexpected form. After years of failing to make gold, Böttger would stumble on the formula for another precious commodity-the beautifully translucent ceramic from China called porcelain.

For readers of Longitude and A Mapmaker's Dream comes a true story of passion, greed, and obsession to stir the imagination and, like lead into gold, bring the events of a distant age magically to life.

Will Lee

Gleeson handles this historical account...with the cool, flawless elegance of her star material...Proving herself a verbal alchemist. —Entertainment Weekly