Crinum Lily Journal — Mary Delany Flora Delanica 1778 Crinum Zeylanicum British Museum

Carry the most extraordinary botanical art ever made—where Mary Delany, at the age of 72, invented an entirely new art form and spent the next decade creating 985 paper mosaic portraits of flowers with a scientific precision that astonished botanists and a beauty that has never been surpassed.

This hardcover journal celebrates two works from the Flora Delanica, the celebrated collection of 985 botanical paper mosaics created by Mary Delany (1700–1788) between 1772 and 1782, now preserved in the British Museum, London. Both covers present Crinum zeylanicum—the Asphodil Lily—created in 1778, showing the characteristic bright pink-striped white flowers against the signature black background. These are not paintings: they are paper mosaics, assembled from hundreds of tiny hand-coloured pieces of paper cut and layered with extraordinary precision. Delany regularly dissected real plants to ensure that every stamen, petal, and leaf was botanically exact, using layers of paper to create depth and shadow.

Front Cover — Asphodil Lily, Crinum zeylanicum, Mary Delany, 1778: A botanically precise portrait of Crinum zeylanicum in full bloom—its bright pink stripes on white petals rendered in hundreds of hand-coloured paper fragments against the black background. The work captures the elegant curve of the long stamens, the delicate translucency of the petals, and the architectural structure of the bulb—all achieved without a single brushstroke.

Back Cover — Crinum zeylanicum, Mary Delany, 1778: A companion portrait of the same species, demonstrating Delany’s ability to capture variation within a single plant through the same meticulous paper mosaic technique. Together, the two covers form a complete botanical study of Crinum zeylanicum as seen through the most original artistic eye in the history of botanical illustration.

Why This Journal Inspires:

• Two works from Mary Delany’s Flora Delanica (1778), now in the British Museum—created by an artist who invented an entirely new art form at the age of 72
• Not paintings but paper mosaics: hundreds of tiny hand-coloured paper fragments assembled with scientific precision onto black backgrounds
• Delany dissected real plants to ensure botanical accuracy, making the Flora Delanica as scientifically rigorous as it is visually extraordinary
• The black background makes the pink-striped white flowers of Crinum zeylanicum glow with an intensity no white-background illustration could achieve

Product Details:

• Format: Hardcover journal with matte laminated full-wrap cover
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding that lays flat and flexes for comfortable writing
• Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 inches, lightweight and portable
• Weight: 0.1 kg
• Cover: Mary Delany Flora Delanica 1778 paper mosaic, British Museum, matte finish; small 0.5"x0.5" production barcode on back

Perfect For:

• Botanical art lovers celebrating Mary Delany’s Flora Delanica and the British Museum’s extraordinary botanical collections
• Admirers of Crinum zeylanicum drawn to the most precise botanical portraits ever made without a paintbrush
• Lovers of collage and paper art who want to carry the work of the woman who invented botanical paper mosaic at 72
• Historians of Georgian England and the remarkable life of Mary Delany, friend of King George III and Queen Charlotte
• Thoughtful gift seekers looking for a uniquely beautiful journal for lovers of botanical art and British history
• Writers and journalers who want their notebook to feel as singular as the art it carries

Carry the legacy of Mary Delany—where the pink-striped petals of the Crinum zeylanicum, assembled from hundreds of hand-cut paper fragments on a black ground, remind us that the most extraordinary art is sometimes made by someone who simply decided, at 72, that it was time to begin.

EU representative: HONSON VENTURES LIMITED, gpsr@honsonventures.com, 3, Gnaftis House flat 102, Limassol, Mesa Geitonia, 4003, CY

Product information: Generic brand, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC

Care instructions: Use a soft, clean and dry cloth to gently brush any dust or dirt off from the center of book outwards.