Charles Aloysius Ramsay (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1677–1680) was a Scottish-Prussian writer on stenography and translator. He spent his time on the continent of Europe, and his shorthand system, which owed much to Thomas Shelton's, became popular in France during the 1680s.

Life

He was probably, like his father, Charles (Carl) Ramsay (died 1669), born at Elbing in the Duchy of Prussia. He received a liberal education, and studied chemistry and medicine. He was living in Frankfurt in 1677 and in Paris in 1680.

Works

Ramsay became known as the publisher and publicist of a system of shorthand, no earlier than 1678. In the 1650s there had been the shorthand of

Jacques Cossard Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

; in the 1660s that of

Daniel Georg Morhof Daniel Georg Morhof (6 February 163930 July 1691) was a German writer and scholar. Bibliography Morhof was born at Wismar. He first studied jurisprudence and then '' literae humaniores'' at the University of Rostock, where his elegant Latin vers ...

; and Thomas Shelton's system had become known in an exposition by

Gaspard Schott Gaspard is a Francophone male given name or family name, and may refer to: People Given name * Gaspard II Schetz, Lord of Grobbendonk * Gaspard Abeille (1648–1718), French poet * Gaspard André (1840–1896), French architect * Gaspard Augé ...

. ''Tacheographia, oder, Geschwinde Schreib-Kunst'' (Frankfurt, 1678) is the first verifiable appearance of Ramsay's system. It certainly was adapted from that of Shelton, with minor changes, and Johann Christoph Mieth in 1679 accused Ramsay of plagiarism. In 1681 Latin and French editions followed. Ramsay also translated from German into Latin a work of

Johann Kunckel Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

, ''Johannis Kunkelii, Elect. Sax. Cubicularii intimi et Chymici, Utiles Observationes sive Animadversiones de Salibus fixis et volatilibus, Auro et argento potabili, Spiritu mundi et similibus'', London and Rotterdam, 1678; dedicated to the Royal Society of London.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, Charles Aloysius Creators of writing systems German male writers German people of Scottish descent 17th-century German people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown