“She Has an Activity of Mind that Never Lets Her be Idle”: Mary Delany, the Enlightenment, and the Creative Arts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mary Delany (1700-1788) is most famous for her “paper mosaicks”, a collection of botanically accurate flower collages that are now held by the British Museum. These collages lie at the intersection of art and science, feminine accomplishment and Enlightenment and were the culmination of a life spent engaging with these topics. Yet often the importance of Delany’s earlier creative and intellectual output goes ignored. With much of this work now lost, this article utilises the extensive collection of Delany’s correspondence to recover her earlier activities and seeks to situate them within her lifelong interest in the Enlightenment. Focusing on the period that Delany lived in Ireland, 1744-1767, it examines the importance of this time in the development of her creative practices. It was at Delville, her home in Glasnevin, County Dublin, that her creative and intellectual activities flourished with her new situation nurturing her interests. Concentrating on Delany’s shellwork and collections, this article explores how she utilised the creative arts to engage with natural history, and how her creative practices became an important part of the construction of an Enlightenment identity. Ultimately, her creative arts served as a means of practicing scientific Enlightenment ideas through an engagement with creative media.