A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Delany, (Mary)
She was the daughter of Bernard Glanville,[1] afterwards Lord Lansdowne, a nobleman whose abilities and virtues, whose character as a poet, whose friendship with Pope, Swift, and other eminent writers of the time, and whose general patronage of men of genius and literature, have so often been recorded in biographical productions, that they cannot be unknown to any of our readers. As the child of such a family, she could not fail of receiving the best education. It was at Long Leat, the seat of the Weymouth family, which was occupied by Lord Lansdowne during the minority of the heir of that family, that Miss Glanville first saw Alexander Pendarves, Esq. a gentleman of large property at Roscrow, in Cornwall, who immediately paid his addresses to her; which were so strenuously supported by her uncle, whom she had not the courage to deny, that she gave a reluctant consent to the match; and accordingly it took place in the compass of two or three weeks, she being then in the 17th year of her age. From a great disparity of years, and other causes, she was very unhappy during the time this connection lasted. However, she endeavoured to make the best of her situation. The retirement to which she was confined was wisely employed in the farther cultivation of a naturally vigorous understanding; and the good use she made of her leisure hours was eminently evinced in the charms of her conversation, and in her letters. That quick feeling of the elegant and beautiful which constitutes taste, she possessed in an eminent degree, and was therefore peculiarly fitted for succeeding in the fine arts. At the period we are speaking of, she made a great proficiency in music. As to painting, which afterwards she most loved, and in which she principally excelled, it had not as yet engaged her practical attention. In 1724, Mrs. Pendarves became a widow, upon which occasion she quitted Cornwall, and fixed her principal residence in London. For several years between 1730 and 1736, she maintained a correspondence with Dr. Swift. In 1743, Mrs. Pendarves was married to Dr. Delany, with whom it appears she had long been acquainted, and many years entertained a very high esteem. She had been a widow nineteen years, when this connection, which was a happy one, took place. Her husband regarded her almost to adoration. Upon his decease in May, 1768, she intended to fix herself at Bath, and was in quest of a house for that purpose. But the duchess dowager of Portland, hearing of her design, went down to the place; and, having in her early years formed an intimacy with Mrs. Delany, wished to have near her a lady from whom she had necessarily, for several years, been much separated, and whose heart and talents she knew would in the highest degree add to the happiness of her own life. Her grace succeeded in her solicitations. Mrs. Delany now passed her time between London and Bulstrode. On the death of the duchess dowager of Portland, the king, who had frequently seen and honoured her with his notice at Bulstrode, assigned her for a summer residence the use of a house completely furnished, in St. Alban's-street, Windsor, adjoining to the entrance of the castle; and, that the having two houses on her hands might not produce any inconvenience with regard to the expence of her living, his majesty, as a farther mark of his royal favour, conferred on her a pension of three hundred pounds a-year. On the 15th of April, 1788, after a short indisposition, she died at her house in St. James's-place, having nearly completed the 88th year of her age. The circumstance that has principally entitled Mrs. Delany to a place in this Dictionary, is her skill in painting, and in other ingenious arts, one of which was entirely her own. With respect to painting, she was late in her application to it. She did not learn to draw till she was more than thirty years of age, when she put herself under the instruction of Goupy, a fashionable master of that time, and much employed by Frederick, Prince of Wales. To oil painting she did not take till she was past forty. So strong was her passion for this art, that she has frequently been known to employ herself in it, day after day, from six o'clock in the morning till dinner time, allowing only a short interval for breakfast. She was principally a copyist, but a very fine one. The only considerable original work of hers in oil, was the raising of Lazarus, in the possession of her friend lady Bute. The number of pictures painted by her, considering how late it was in life before she applied herself to the art, was very great. Her own house was full of them, and others are among the chief ornaments of Calswich, Welbourn, and Ilam, the respective residences of her nephews, Mr. Glanville and Mr. Dewes, and of her niece Mrs. Port. Mrs. Delany, among her other accomplishments, excelled in embroidery and shell-work; and, in the course of her life, produced many elegant specimens of her skill in these respects. But what is more remarkable, at the age of seventy-four, she invented a new and beautiful mode of exercising her ingenuity. This was by the construction of a Flora, of a most singular kind, formed by applying coloured papers together, and which might not improperly be called a species of mosaic work. Being perfectly mistress of her scissars, the plant or flower which she purposed to imitate she cut out, that is, she cut out its various leaves and parts, in such coloured Chinese paper as suited her subject; and, as she could not always meet with a colour to correspond with the one she wanted, she then dyed her own paper to answer her wishes. She used a black ground, as best calculated to throw out her flower, and not the least astonishing part of her art was, that though she never employed her pencil to trace out the form or shape of her plant, yet when she had applied all the pieces which composed it, it hung so loosely and gracefully, that every one was persuaded it must previously have been drawn out, and repeatedly corrected by a most judicious hand, before it could have attained the ease and air of truth which, without any impeachment of the honour of this accomplished lady, might justly be called a forgery of nature's works. The effect was superior to what painting could have produced; and so imposing, that she would sometimes put a real leaf of a plant by the side of one of her own creation, which the eye could not detect, even when she herself pointed it out. Mrs. Delany continued in the prosecution of her design till the 83d year of her age, when the dimness of her sight obliged her to lay it aside. However, by her unwearied perseverance, she became authoress of far the completest Flora that ever was executed by the same hand. The number of plants finished by her amounted to nine hundred and eighty.
This invaluable Flora was bequeathed by her to her nephew, Court Dewes, Esq. and is now in his possession. The liberality of Mrs. Delany's mind rendered her at all times ready to communicate her art. She frequently pursued her work in company; was desirous of shewing to her friends how easy it was to execute, and was heard to lament that so few would attempt it. It required, however, great patience and great knowledge in botanical drawing. She began to write poetry at eighty years of age.
- ↑ The personage described here is George Granville, the brother of Col. Bernard. (Wikisource contributor note)