Life & Letters at Bath in the Eighteenth Century

18th-century Bath was at the center of English culture and fashion. A pleasure resort as well as a spa town, it played host to the beau monde in search of diversion in addition to the infirm in search of a cure by taking its waters. Its pump room, assembly rooms, and theater attracted aristocracy and gentry from all over the country, particularly under the auspices of Master of Ceremonies Beau Nash, notable dandy and leader of fashion. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Gainsborough, and Jane Austen were among its famous visitors and residents. This study chronicles this fascinating period in the history of the city and gives details of the wide variety of famous people associated with it.