Using the British Library’s and the National Trust’s collections, this project explored Jane Austen’s writings through the lens of Bath’s public social entertainments, in particular the assembly rooms, looking at balls and dancing, concerts and music which feature throughout Jane Austen’s novels and personal correspondence. This project explored what the literature and written culture of the era tells us about Bath’s social life and how these accounts compare with Austen’s own. It drew on Library and Trust collections (including works by other authors such as novels, travel journals and guidebooks, personal writings, diaries and correspondence) to consider the role and importance of Bath’s assembly rooms, and other entertainment spaces played within Georgian public life.

Funder: The National Trust.