Mary Davey

“I ask for the greatest indulgence for this small literary product that I would like to present as a faithfully sketched portrait of the largest and least known of the sunny Mediterranean islands. Ichnusa is the extraordinary name of Sardinia; the island, which has been colonized from time to time by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Spaniards, Pisans and Genoese, and still has many interesting memories of these numerous dominations. Now it is under the rule of the ancient house of Savoy, thus conferring the title of king of Sardinia to the prince of Piedmont, Duke of Savoy and Genoa.”
Thus, in the preface, Mary Davey opens the story of her stay on the island, which lasted from 1848 to 1850, and which is entitled 'Ichnusa, two pleasant years on the island of Sardinia', published in London in 1861 and followed by a second, 'Sardinia', in 1874.
There is little information about this unusual solitary traveler, the only nineteenth-century woman to tell us about her experience, but certainly not the only Englishman: others preceded her and will follow her, as well as the group of countrymen living in Cagliari that Davey visits as soon as she landed in the capital and to whom, during the work, she constantly refers, recounting her life in a land very different from theirs: “I have heard it said several times, and I believe it, that British people living in a foreign land are the most Ugrave; pleasant in the world”; and again: “they are the kindest people in the world, proverbially reckless and terribly obstinate.” She is an entrepreneur, and - besides the reasons for pleasure - she most likely came to the island to explore the possibility of commercial relations with a land that should appear to be rich in resources and opportunities for enrichment. His is a fictionalized story, he quotes the words of his traveling companions, he enriches every description with considerations, judgments, comparisons with his land; he observes the vitality, the voice, the movement of people. He is a Protestant, and with a marked accent he describes and criticizes religious customs that he does not understand, or that are far from his habits: “All those religious cults celebrated every day on the island know more or less about idolatry; even deep devotion and absolute faith are very beautiful to observe and have their effect on the imagination, if not also on the heart.”
Through the story of British life on the island, Davey gives us the only female 'view' of nineteenth-century Sardinia.

Update

25/6/2026 - 13:27