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12 May 2019

Women on Stamps | L for Labé


Louise Labé (c.1524-c.1566) was a feminist French poet. Her works, published in 1555, consist mainly of elegies and love sonnets written between 1545 and 1555.

From a letter she wrote:
The time having come, Mademoiselle, when the stern laws of men no longer bar women from devoting themselves to the sciences and disciplines, it seems to me that those who are able ought to employ this honorable liberty, which our sex formerly desired so much, in studying these things and show men the wrong they have done us in depriving us of the benefit and the honor which might have come to us. (...) And in addition to the recognition that our sex will gain by this, we will have furnished the public with a reason for men to devote more study and labor to the humanities lest they might be ashamed to see us surpass them when they have always pretended to be superior in nearly everything.
The stamp was issued on 22 May 2016, 450 years after her death.

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For the current round of Sunday Stamps A-Z I am showing stamps dedicated to women. You can see here all the Women on Stamps featured on this blog.

Go to Sunday Stamps to enjoy more L-stamps.

14 comments:

  1. Très beau timbre de Louise Labé et beaucoup de L dans ce timbre comme le L de Luth ,l'instrument de musique médiéval et à gauche on devine la cathédrale gothique de Saint Jean à Lyon où Louise Labé est née .

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    1. Je l'aime beaucoup. Merci, je crois que c'est toi qui l'a envoyé :)

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  2. Beautiful and harmonious stamp. Not an easy time to be a woman, the letter is both elegantly written and true.

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    1. It is. I suspect she was a brave woman!

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  3. It is a very beautiful stamp, one of my favourites, too! I didn't know her so far, so also thank you for sharing the letter, as Joy says, it is well written and so true..

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    1. I guessed you would like the link with the music... I love especially the colours on this stamp. And, of course, that it led me to find more about this woman.

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  4. So there was glass ceiling back in the 1500s - there still is in so many areas today. A remarkable letter.

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    1. I guess there were more than a ceiling glass back on that century...

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  5. Great stamp - so perfect for your overall theme.

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  6. What an extraordinary woman!

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  7. Lovely stamp! It is striking how even after more than 500 years, these lines are still valid in some places of this world =/

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    1. It's sad. But it makes me admire this woman even more.

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