Philipp Ulstad ( la, Phillipus Ulstadius; en, Philip Ulstad) was a nobleman from

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, who taught medicine at the Academy in

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at the beginning of the sixteenth century. He is known for his work ''Coelum philosophorum seu de secretis naturae liber'' (Fribourg, 1525), a major work of early modern

distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...

technology. The ''Coelum philosophorum'' contains extracts from

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, and

John of Rupescissa :''Johannes de Rupescissa may also refer to Cardinal Jean de La Rochetaillée'' Jean de Roquetaillade, also known as John of Rupescissa, (ca. 1310 – between 1366 and 1370) was a French Franciscan alchemist and eschatologist. Biography Af ...

. It saw numerous editions, including translations into German (

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, 1527) and French (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, 1546). He was particularly influenced by John of Rupescissa and his work on the quintessence and its use in medicine. However, he did not believe the quintessence to be incorruptible, as did Rupescissa, but rather far less corruptible than the other four elements. Ulstad distanced himself from the philosophical strands of alchemy, and focused on the technical aspects, which he wanted to make accessible to

apothecaries ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and Nor ...

, doctors, and other practitioners. He described the preparation of the quintessence from plants, minerals, metals (gold, among others) and referred to medical applications throughout. He also authored a short text on the plague (''De epidemia tractatus''). Little is known of his life outside of his published work.

Works

* ''De epidemia tractatus.'' Basel, 1526. * ''Coelum philosophorum seu de secretis naturae liber.'' Fribourg, 1525. German translation, Strasbourg, 1527; French translation, Paris, 1546.

Bibliography

* Atkinson, Edward R., and Arthur H. Hughes. "The Coelum Philosophorum of Philipp Ulstad." ''Journal of Chemical Education'' 16 (1939): 103–107. * Fichman, Martin.

Dictionary of Scientific Biography The ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980 by publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, with main editor the science historian Charles Gillispie, from Princeton University. It consi ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulstad, Philipp German alchemists 16th-century German people 16th-century alchemists