The Learned Lady in England, 1650-1760Reynolds, Myra
History
The Learned Lady in England, 1650-1760
Reynolds, Myra
Women -- Education -- Great Britain; Women -- Great Britain; Women authors, English
One book definitely in honor of the ladies came out rather late
in the period. This was Charles Gerbier's _Elogium Heroinum. The
Ladies' Vindication: or, The Praise of Worthy Women._ The threefold
dedication to the Princess of Bohemia, "whose marvellous wisdom and
profound knowledge in Arts, Sciences, and Languages, is admired by
all men," to the Countess Dowager of Claire, "a Patroness of the
Muses, a general Lover of the Languages, and Knowledge"; and to the
"Vertuous Accomplisht Lady Anne Hudson," is justified by the three
principles in natural philosophy, the three theological virtues,
and the three graces. "Woman," says Mr. Gerbier, "is capable of
as high improvement as man," an assertion which he proceeds to
establish by the following arguments: "Does not _Sophia_ signify
wisdom? Are not Faith, Hope and Charity represented as Women? Are not
the Seven Liberal Arts exprest in Women's Shapes? Are not the Nine
Muses Daughters of Jupiter? Is not Wisdom called the Daughter of the
Highest?" His list of worthy women begins with the Queen of Sheba who
disputed with Solomon, goes enthusiastically through the famous dames
of Greece and Rome, including the Muses and the Sibyls, and touches
upon later learned women such as "Christine de Pisan, Margaret of
Vallois, Lady Jane Grey, the Countess of Pembroke, the daughters of
Sir Anthony Cooke," and a few other outstanding personages of Tudor
times. Praise so heterogeneous and uncritical was perhaps of little
value, but such as it is, it stands alone in England in the period
between Elizabeth and Charles II as a defense of learned women. And
no defense or protest comes from the pen of a woman.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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