Juan de YciarorIciar (16th century) was a calligraphist and mathematician active in Zaragoza in the middle of the 16th century.
Juan de Yciar
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Engraving from his book
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| Born | c. 1522–1523
probably Durango, Biscay, now Spain
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| Died | after 1572
probably Logroño, Crown of Castile, now Spain
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Calligraphy Mathematics |
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]
