mary sidney turned wilton house into a "paradise for poets", known as the "wilton circle," a salon-type literary group sustained by her hospitality, which included edmund spenser, samuel daniel, michael drayton, ben jonson, and sir john davies. john aubrey wrote, "wilton house was like a college, there were so many learned and ingenious persons. she was the greatest patroness of wit and learning of any lady in her time." sidney received more dedications than any other woman of non-royal status. by some accounts, king james i visited wilton on his way to his coronation in 1603 and stayed again at wilton following the coronation to avoid the plague. she was regarded as a muse by daniel in his poem "delia", an anagram for ideal.