Joaquín Ibarra y Marín, also known as Joaquín Ibarra, (

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, July 20, 1725 -

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, November 13, 1785) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

who was known for several important technical developments in the fields of the

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

s, and

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

. Some of his most important works are ''Conhuración de Catilina y la guerra de Yugurta'', printed in 1772, and an edition of ''

Don Quijote de la Mancha , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', as well as ''

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanopho ...

'', done in 1780. Ibarra was influenced b
Baskerville, Didot and Bodoni

Early life and career

Ibarra studied at

Cervera Cervera () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain. The title Comte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Leonor ...

, in the province of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

, as an apprentice to his brother Manuel, who was serving as first officer of Printing Pontifical and Royal University. He also studied academics, learning

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and classical culture bases. As teacher, he moved to

in 1754, setting up a print shop with 16 presses. Working alongside the best

painters Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and engravers of his time, Ibarra was a well recognized printer. Ibarra was an

innovator Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

. The

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...

he used had exceptional quality and brilliance, based on a secret formula he invented. Ibarra implemented several innovations in printing and the process of composition. He experimented with the

satin A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...

of the paper to remove marks from the

printing plate Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

; established a standardized format for developing measures of graphic types, based on the surface of a capital, similar in principle to the rules to be developed by Fournier independently; and typographical conventions such as using V to represent U or using the same block for the long S and F. One of his disciples, the later head of the Company of Printers and Booksellers in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Jose Siguenza, systematically collected observations as a collection and published them in 1811 with the title ''Mechanism of the Printing Art''. Between 1754 and 1836, Ibarra continued to run his workshop, producing some 2,500 editions. Notable are the aforementioned de Cervantes and

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...

, the latter being printed as an edition of 120 copies for the use of the royal family and foreign dignitaries present. Other significant issues included the Spanish Paleography (1758), Plant History (1762), Breviarium regulam Gothicum Beatissimi Secundum Isidori (1775), the second edition of the Tour of Spain by

Antonio Ponz Antonio Ponz Piquer (1725 – 4 December 1792) was a Spanish painter. He was born at Bejís in the province of Castellón. He was a pupil of Antonio Richarte at Valencia, Spain, Valencia, then in 1746 moved to Madrid, where he studied for five ...

, the General History of Spain by John Mariana (1780), and the Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus et Nova (1783 - 1788), in four volumes. He collaborated with the publisher Antonio Sancha before it established its own

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

, printing among other works the first volumes of the Spanish Parnassus.

Contributions

Ibarra made many contributions to the art of printing, including conducting experiments with paper. He began to experiment with paper in an effort to reduce plate mark impressions. Ibarra also developed a standardized measure for the production of type and created a formula for ink. These contributions are seen in most of his best-known works. Considered one of Spain's finest printers, Joaquin Ibarra was printer to the Court of Spain. The Spanish version of

is widely considered to be one of the finest books ever produced and was greatly admired by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

Type

Ibarra did not design, engrave, or cast types, contrary to what is often assumed. The error is probably based on the documents in his edition of Don Quixote of the Royal Academy, for which they made a new cast (but not a new design). Ibarra's printing used various foundries of his time, especially games Gerónimo Gil, the Smelter

Rangel Rangel (, ) is a surname of Portuguese origin. Rangel is a toponymic surname. The origin of the term is uncertain but French And Germanic roots are discussed, one are from the German "ragin-walt" - a mighty ruler. Other theory about the origin ...

(used by the

Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

, and really a game of

Garamond Garamond is a group of many serif typefaces, named for sixteenth-century Parisian engraver Claude Garamond, generally spelled as Garamont in his lifetime. Garamond-style typefaces are popular to this day and often used for book printing and bod ...

), types of Lleida Eudald Pradell with casting Madrid, a game of

, and the celebrated and reviled italic cast which composed the ''Sallust'', abierta created by the academic and writer Murcia Espinosa de los Monteros, who owned a foundry in Madrid. In the early twentieth century, Madrid

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

Gans held a '' revival'' called Ibarra from several of these castings, which was the starting point for other recent redesigns. According to expert Mariano Villegas Garcia, there were many outstanding typographers and printers during the Golden Age of Spain. One exceptionally recognized among them was Don Juaquin Ibbara Marin, followed by Don Antonio Sancha, who was also a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

. Ibarra was also known for creating his own paper. Creating different mottled paper grades depends on the way in which colors are deposited and manipulated. His technique consisted of preparing paper in a rubber bath which served as background. It was necessary to prepare this in one or two liters of cold water with about 50 grams of “Alquitira” rubber ( Tragacanto), stirred at intervals while adding up to six liters of water as the rubber is undoing the process (which usually takes up to three days), then passing it through a filter, strainer, or cheesecloth. Once he had a proper background, he prepared the colors, which are pigments found in vegetables, and poured them into the bath, where they rushed to the bottom instead of floating as needed. The colors were mixed on a smooth surface with a creamy mass binding. Then he would stir it with a spatula. The densities of the mixture of colors allowed him to control the colors being added (he used drops of

ox gall Ox gall (also spaced oxgall) is bile, also known as "gall", usually obtained from the gallbladder of cows, it is an ingredient in bile soap and mixed with alcohol and used as the wetting agent in paper marbling, engraving, lithography, and waterco ...

was when he preferred a smoother finish). If the color of the pigment was too creamy, he added contrast. Once the colors were prepared and spread, he manipulated them with sticks, needles, combs, etc., to form the drawings.

Printed work

Two major books he printed were La conjuración de Catilina y La guerra de Iugurta (1772) and El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de La Mancha (1780). La conjuración de Catilina y La guerra de Iugurta was considered a masterpiece because of several pages filled with illustrations by Mariano Maella. It was customary for Ibarra projects to contain a perfect flow of harmonious type, inks, illustration, margins, and textures. Only 120 volumes were printed and were distributed to the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

, institutions, and major personalities in Spain. El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de La Mancha was a deluxe edition of Don Quixote, in four volumes, made on paper called "ex profeso" with melted types of "ex novo" on the pages. The text in this edition was a rendition of the second edition of 1605 Cuesta. This contemporary piece, which was known as an artistic piece, was entrusted to the Academy of San Fernando. There are about 2,500 works that are recognized to have come out of Ibarra's workshop over a course of eight decades. Some of the books he printed are * Juicio imparcial sobre las letras, en forma de breve, que ha publicado la Curia Romana, en que se intentan derogar ciertos Edictos del... Duque de Parma. Madrid: en la oficina de D. Joachin de Ibarra, 1769, * QUEVEDO, Francisco de, Politica de Dios y gobierno de Christo : sacada de la Sagrada Escritura para acierto de rey, y reyno en sus acciones. Madrid: por D. Joachin Ibarra, 1772, * PONZ, Antonio, Viage de España o Cartas en que se da noticia de las cosas mas apreciables y dignas de saberse que hay en ella. Madrid: por D. Joachin Ibarra, 1772, * BECCARIA, Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di, Tratado de los delitos y de las penas. Traducido del italiano por D. Juan Antonio de las Casas. Madrid: por D. Joachin Ibarra, 1774 When Ibarra died in 1785, his wife and children ran the workshop until 1836.

References

Bibliography

* •Joaquin Ibarra, el grabado y las artes impresorias en el Madrid del siglo XVIII. Memoria para Optar al Grado de Doctor Presenrada por Mariano Villegas Garcia, 2001