Juan de Yciar | |
---|---|
Born |
c. 1522–1523 probably
Durango, Biscay, now Spain |
Died | after 1572 probably
Logroño,
Crown of Castile, now Spain |
Scientific career | |
Fields |
Calligraphy Mathematics |
Juan de Yciar or Iciar (16th century) was a calligraphist and mathematician active in Zaragoza in the middle of the 16th century.
Little is known about the life of Juan de Yciar and it is known by his self-explanations in the preface of one of his books. [1]
Born in Durango (north of actual Spain) c. 1523, he went to Zaragoza at a young age, [2] probably due to some familiar adverse circumstances. [3] When he was fifty years old, he was ordered priest and he was living in Logroño, [4] where it is supposed he died sometime after 1573.
Yciar is known mainly by his work on calligraphy, edited first time in Zaragoza in 1548 [5] titled Recopilacion subtilissima: intitulada Ortographia pratica: por la qual se enseña á escreuir perfectamente, [6] which was extended, modified and reedited many times, with different titles, during the 16th century. It is a book to teach writing in which there are from pedagogic rules [7] to different types of letters, [8] going by formulas to make inks or ways to cut quills. [9] The success of the book resides in the fact that codification of a standard legible hand was indispensable to the functioning of an imperial bureaucracy that raising imperial Spain needed. [10] The plate engravings had been made by the French engraver Juan de Vingles, who worked in several Spanish towns during the 16th century. [11] The editions of 1564 and onward had attached and annex on arithmetic written by Juan Gutiérrez de Gualda.
In 1549, and also in Zaragoza, he published a book on elementary arithmetic, with pedagogical goals, titled Arithmetica practica, muy util y provechoso para toda persona que quisiere ejercitar se en aprender a contar. [12] [13] Despite the small success of this book, it is also a sample of the learning needs of the tradesmen in an era of growing of trade. [14]