Marie Pavie (fl. 1600) was a
calligrapher active in France at the beginning of the seventeenth century and possibly the first woman to have published a
copybook, ''Le premier essay de la plume de Marie Pavie'', under her own name.
Life & work
Pavie, along with Dutch calligrapher
Maria Strick
Maria Strick (née Becq; 1577–after 1631) was a Dutch schoolmistress and calligrapher. She published four writing manuals, making her a key figure in the so-called ‘golden age of Dutch calligraphy’ (c. 1590-1650) and virtually unique amon ...
, the other contender for the position of first woman to publish a copybook under her own name, were part of a vanishingly small group of professional early-modern women calligraphers. Little is known about Pavie's life and there are only two copies of her book extant, and one of those partial: the
Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...
in Chicago holds the only known complete copy, and the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
in Paris has some leaves.
[Marolles collection: Paris BNF (Est.): Kb31 fol.] Copybooks tended to receive heavy usage and many have not survived.
References
Bibliography
* Mediavilla, Claude. ''History of French calligraphy''. Paris: 2006, p.192.
* ''Le premier essay de la plume de Marie Pavie''. S.l., 1608. 4° obl., 25 pl. (Newberry Library, Chicago: Wing ZW 639.P283, 15 pl. Availabl
online.
See also
*
List of female calligraphers
16th-century calligraphers
17th-century calligraphers
French calligraphers
Women calligraphers
{{Calligraphy-stub