The French Marianne Issues

Introduction

During the French Revolution (1789-1792), the idea of a woman representing the Republic became popular, but it wasn't until the Second Empire, some 60 years later, that she was named Marianne. "Marianne" was originally the name of a secret society which struggled against the regime, becoming celebrated by participating in the revolt of the slate workers of Trelage, near Angers. These pro-republican citizens represented "Marianne," a common French name, as the proud woman leader, defying her enemy. After the fall of the Second Empire in 1852, the Third Republic kept Marianne as the symbol of the proud, strong France.

In December, 1997, this exhibit was entered in Mevifil'97, the First International Exhibition of Philatelic Audio-Visual and Computer Systems, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It won Vermeil and Special awards.

This exhibit examines philatelic items produced during the production stages of the representations of Marianne on French stamps by the artists Fernez, Dulac, Gandon, Müller, Piel, Decaris, Cocteau, Cheffer, Béquet, Briat and Luquet. This encompasses the period from 1944 to 1998. These production stages, and the items produced are:

Key items to note include the artist's proofs. Most of these are printed in quantities of 6 or 12.

Certain definitions (marked with asterisk *) have been copied from Fundamentals of Philately, by L.N. Williams, 1990 Revised Edition