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THE ARCANUM
By Janet Gleeson
Warner Books, 325 pages, $23.
In 18th Century Germany, a young alchemist named Johann Frederick Bottger endeavored to turn base metals into gold. He never determined the formula but in the process discovered a different kind of bounty: the secret recipe or “arcanum” for making porcelain. It was the first such discovery in the Western world. But Bottger had told boastful lies about his abilities with gold and eventually was imprisoned for 12 1/2 years. He was released on the condition that he remain in Dresden and continue his search for gold.