Jane Austen lived in Bath from 1801 - 1806, and used the city as a setting in two of her novels, which were published posthumously in 1817, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion . Her father was retiring in 1801, and he and Mrs Austen who had done some of their courting and been married in Bath, were keen to spend time there again. Mr Austen’s retirement meant that Jane’s clergyman brother James could take over the living of Steventon, and I can’t help thinking that the fact their two daughters were still unmarried might also have had a certain influence on their decision. Bath was a place to get husbands. It’s said that Jane fainted at the news they were to leave her beloved Steventon in Hampshire, though her letters at this period of time seem more resigned to her fate. Because Bath was such a distance, the cost of transporting the Austens’ possessions was prohibitive, and many had to be sold or left behind. These included 500 books from their personal library and Jane’s pianofort...