Bathe in the historical aura of Jane Austen’s life, work
BATH, England — Shortly after our late-afternoon arrival in Bath, we took a promenade along its storied gravel walk, the same one where Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth found themselves "exquisitely happy" at the end of Jane Austen's "Persuasion."
This year marks the bicentennial of Austen's death, and our party of four had come to Bath to follow in the footsteps of one of Britain's most beloved novelists, who lived here from 1800 to 1806. Some of the special events planned include a Jane Austen Summer Ball in July (Regency dress is requested) and the 10-day Jane Austen Festival in September, which will feature more than 80 events.
Our stroll took us to that fine Palladian terrace, the Royal Crescent. I wish I could report that the golden sandstone of the buildings glowed in the late afternoon sun, but it was a rather miserable February day and we had not walked very far before the doorman of No. 1 Royal Crescent, a house museum furnished as it might have been during the late 18th century, invited us in.
This circa-1774 grand abode was the first Royal Crescent house to be completed, and in 2006 it was restored to the splendor of its Georgian heyday, when it was occupied by a high-society family. Today, it welcomes visitors from all over the globe to see the world in which Austen resided.
Family and writing were at its center, and after her father retired, she moved to Bath with her parents and sister.
No. 1 Royal Crescent is furnished with all the fashionable accoutrements of the era: a globe and telescope in the gentleman's retreat; a collection of curiosities in the hallway; a fine dining room (a novel addition to a home in Georgian times); and portraits and botanical drawings. One modern convenience that the house did not possess however, was a bathroom, though a commode was discretely stored in a cupboard in each room. The doorman, David Symington, informed me that society came to Bath for the winter season, returning to their country houses in the summer, when the stench of the sewers became too much to bear. Below stairs, the kitchen and scullery boasted spices from around the world and some costumes that allowed my daughter Kitty to indulge her love of dressing up.
Soon, it was time to retire to our lodgings, which I confess were not quite as illustrious as Sydney or even Gay Street, two of Austen's addresses in Bath. Nevertheless, our party of four found our two-bedroom flat with sofa bed in the lounge in a converted Methodist church quite adequate for our needs.
The next morning, we took a 20-minute walk into town and went directly to Gay Street. Alas, Austen's former residence at No. 25 is now a dental practice, but the Jane Austen Center is located at No. 40, a house similar in size and style. The building is an homage to Austen and her works. The permanent exhibition recounts her life in Bath and the city's influence on her writing. Two of her novels, "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey," are partially set in Bath.
We attended a short lecture on Austen's life by a guide in Georgian costume.
The writer, he explained, was the beloved seventh child of a clergyman and his wife, and was very close to her only sister, Cassandra.