Mrs Delany

“Biographer Clarissa Campbell Orr immerses you in the minutiae of Mary’s life.”—Constance Craig-Smith, Daily Mail

“With this work Yale University Press adds to its reputation for producing beautiful books written by the leading scholars in court studies. . . . Campbell Orr has made an important contribution to our understanding of the artistic, intellectual, and social life of the eighteenth century, including the histories of collage, horticulture, family and marriage, and the life of the court.”—Robert Bucholz, Journal of Modern History

“Mrs Delany: A Life delivers a vibrant and fleshy account that reflects ongoing work within eighteenth-century studies to recover the voices and embodied experiences of women and will interest both Delany scholars and more general readers. Orr’s Delany is an intelligent and fiercely resilient woman who, despite being drawn from familiar nineteenth-century source material, steps beyond Opie’s frame to emerge as a dynamic and compelling figure.”—Madeleine Pelling, Eighteenth-Century Fiction

“This sensitively-written book immerses the reader in the world of a cultivated and artistic eighteenth-century gentlewoman. Through a fully-researched and fascinating exploration of the familial correspondence of Mary Delany, Orr throws new and original light on the attitudes of the eighteenth-century elite to marriage, family life and the education and status of women.”—Jane Rendall, author of The Origins of Modern Feminism

“Mrs Delany’s love of gardens and natural history, combined with the dexterity of a craftswoman, led her, at over seventy, to an astonishing project: the wonderful cut-paper flower pictures for which she is now remembered. Orr gives us the Christian gentlewoman rather than the artist, in a panorama of gentry life with its many duties and constraints as well as privileges. One feels that Mrs Delany would give her blessing to the portrait.”—Norma Clarke, author of Queen of the Wits

“How was it that Mary Delany so skillfully combined a high-profile social circle, copious letter-writing and attendance at the royal court with gardening, botanical enquiry and prolific and innovative artistic endeavour? This fascinating life is both timely and revelatory.”—James Raven, What Is the History of the Book?

“Through a deep study of kinship, friendship and a large cast of characters, Orr skilfully crafts the story behind Mary Delany’s creation of nearly one thousand botanical collages as an album amicorum. With great clarity and verve, the author proves a most faithful companion to Delany and her life’s ‘work.’”—Mark Laird, author of A Natural History of English Gardening