Girolamo Ruscelli was born in Viterbo (from a family described by different sources as of humble origins, of minor nobility, or notaries), probably in 1518, although in many texts list the year of birth as 1504.

[3] He was a writer on the most varied subjects, both as author or curator, and on behalf of third parties, in this latter function in particular until 1555 in partnership with the publisher Plinio Pietrasanta.

In that year he was tried by the Inquisition for the unlicensed publication of a satirical poem, Il capitolo delle Lodi del Fuso published by Plinio Pietrasanta in Venice 1554, and fined 50 ducats (about 6oz of gold), after which the small publishing company did not long survive.

It is generally accepted that he was Alessio Piemontese (in Latin, Alexius Pedemontanus),[4] a pseudonym under which he wrote an immensely popular book of alchemy first published in 1555, De Secreti Del Alessio Piemontese, which included recipes for alchemical compounds, cosmetics, dyes, and medicines.

It was reprinted for over two centuries and translated into numerous languages (French, English, German, Latin, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Danish).