Frederick Clod (or Clodius) (1625 – after 1661), was a physician and "mystical chemist" of German extraction. He lived in a sizeable house (taxed on eight hearths) in Axe Yard, London, next door to the Hartlibs, whose daughter Mary he married in 1660. He was also a neighbour to the diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

, who mentions him several times. He was a minor figure in scientific circles and a friend of

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...

, to whom he supplied some very varied recipes. He came to England in 1652, having been recommended to Samuel Hartlib by

Johann Moriaen Johann Moriaen (born Nuremberg c.1591-1668) was a German alchemist and early chemist, known as an associate of Samuel Hartlib. He was active in recruiting for Hartlib's network of intellectuals, the Hartlib Circle, and communicating with them. He ...

. He had been in the service of

Frederick III of Denmark Frederick III (; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bishop) of the ...

, collecting "Rarities", and himself was a native of

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

.W.R.R. Newman and L.M. Principe, ''Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry'' (University of Chicago Press, 2002). He presided at the wedding of his sister-in-law Nan Hartlib to

Johannes Rothe Johannes Rothé, or Jan Rothe, de Rothe of Rode, also Mr Roder (Amsterdam, 2 December 1628 - 18 March 1702), Lord of Oud-Wulven and Wayen in the Netherlands, was a prophetic preacher and Fifth Monarchy, Fifth Monarchist. He was the son of an Amster ...

in 1660. Pepys, a guest at the wedding, describes it as a social event of great magnificence. This suggests that Clod was a man of some wealth, since the Hartlibs were then living in dire poverty ("Nan will have nothing in the world" Pepys remarked), and Nan's father could not possibly have paid for the wedding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clod, Frederick English alchemists German alchemists Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 17th-century alchemists