![ULSTAD, Philipp (fl.1526). Coelum philosophorum seu de secretis naturae. Fribourg [i.e. ?Strasbourg]: [?Johann Grüninger], 1525.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2016/CKS/2016_CKS_13730_0096_001(ulstad_philipp_coelum_philosophorum_seu_de_secretis_naturae_fribourg_i075403).jpg?w=1)
![ULSTAD, Philipp (fl.1526). Coelum philosophorum seu de secretis naturae. Fribourg [i.e. ?Strasbourg]: [?Johann Grüninger], 1525.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2016/CKS/2016_CKS_13730_0096_000(ulstad_philipp_coelum_philosophorum_seu_de_secretis_naturae_fribourg_i100243).jpg?w=1)
Details
ULSTAD, Philipp (fl.1526). Coelum philosophorum seu de secretis naturae. Fribourg [i.e. ?Strasbourg]: [?Johann Grüninger], 1525.
Small 2° (271 x 183mm). Large woodcut on title, 60 woodcut illustrations, 3 full-page, initials, one tailpiece. (Title with some marginal repairs, some small marginal repairs throughout, D1-E1 with larger repair in outer margin, occasionally touching text and one or two letters supplied in manuscript, lightly browned and spotted.) Later pasteboard binding (lightly rubbed). Provenance: bookseller's label on front pastedown.
RARE FIRST EDITION of this popular treatise on distillation and the medical efficacy of chemical distillates. It went through more than twenty editions and served as a standard authority on the preparation and use of distillates for nearly a century. ‘Despite his use of alchemical terminology, Ulstad clearly dissociated himself from the enigmatic aspects of the alchemical tradition in offering his concise and rational account of the preparation of distilled remedies. Concerned with culling from the medieval alchemical corpus those techniques and ideas of practical utility, he ensured that they were made available to as large an audience as possible, including all apothecaries, surgeons, and medical doctors’ (DSB). Duveen points out that some bibliographers, including Ferguson, quote the first edition as being printed in Freiburg, Switzerland but he is convinced this is incorrect. ‘Printing was not introduced at Freiburg until the end of the 16th century. Probably the date at the end of the Epilogue “Exactum Friburgi Helvetiorum… 1525” has been taken as a colophon by some bibliographers.’ He argues that judging from the typography of these early editions, they must have come from Grüninger’s press. The first edition of this work is VERY SCARCE, none of the standard bibliographies list a copy and there are no copies recorded at auction on Rare Book Hub or ABPC. Cf. Duveen p.591; cf. Ferguson II, 482-3.
Small 2° (271 x 183mm). Large woodcut on title, 60 woodcut illustrations, 3 full-page, initials, one tailpiece. (Title with some marginal repairs, some small marginal repairs throughout, D1-E1 with larger repair in outer margin, occasionally touching text and one or two letters supplied in manuscript, lightly browned and spotted.) Later pasteboard binding (lightly rubbed). Provenance: bookseller's label on front pastedown.
RARE FIRST EDITION of this popular treatise on distillation and the medical efficacy of chemical distillates. It went through more than twenty editions and served as a standard authority on the preparation and use of distillates for nearly a century. ‘Despite his use of alchemical terminology, Ulstad clearly dissociated himself from the enigmatic aspects of the alchemical tradition in offering his concise and rational account of the preparation of distilled remedies. Concerned with culling from the medieval alchemical corpus those techniques and ideas of practical utility, he ensured that they were made available to as large an audience as possible, including all apothecaries, surgeons, and medical doctors’ (DSB). Duveen points out that some bibliographers, including Ferguson, quote the first edition as being printed in Freiburg, Switzerland but he is convinced this is incorrect. ‘Printing was not introduced at Freiburg until the end of the 16th century. Probably the date at the end of the Epilogue “Exactum Friburgi Helvetiorum… 1525” has been taken as a colophon by some bibliographers.’ He argues that judging from the typography of these early editions, they must have come from Grüninger’s press. The first edition of this work is VERY SCARCE, none of the standard bibliographies list a copy and there are no copies recorded at auction on Rare Book Hub or ABPC. Cf. Duveen p.591; cf. Ferguson II, 482-3.
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