Back to London

 Dearest readers,

This week has been so busy! When last I wrote, I had just visited the beautiful Jane Austen Centre and spent a lovely day with my new friend Nadia. 

Sunday

The next day, Sunday, I attended Church at Bath Abbey–it's gorgeous and full of light. After the service, I met up with a walking group that took a whirlwind tour of Bath, thematically linked to the popular period drama Bridgerton. I got to see Lady Danbury's house, the shop used as at the store front for the Modiste, the where they recorded the "ice cream" outing, and many other things. We explored the Royal Crescent and the Circus–such fun! 

Monday

On Monday, I went to visit a cathedral that I have been wanting to see for ages. Wells Cathedral, in the smallest city in England, is an early Gothic cathedral, featuring unique "scissor arches." It is a beautiful building! Here, I also took the "high tour," which was an excellent decision. My guide, Malcolm, was extremely knowledgeable about both architectural and ecclesiastic history. I learned a lot and had an excellent time. Below are some pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure:

I was planning to go to the Fashion Museum at Bath when I got back to the city, but the museum is closed on Mondays :( So instead, I did a bit of shopping, packed, and booked a slot at the Pump Room for their opening time the next day.

Tuesday

 The Pump Room, as you probably remember, features heavily in many of Jane Austen's novels, most notably, Northanger Abbey, which is almost completely set in Bath:

"Every morning now brought its regular duties—shops were to be visited; some new part of the town to be looked at; and the pump-room to be attended, where they paraded up and down for an hour, looking at everybody and speaking to no one..."

"The first wish of her heart was to improve her acquaintance with Miss Tilney, and almost her first resolution, to seek her for that purpose, in the pump-room at noon. In the pump-room, one so newly arrived in Bath must be met with, and that building she had already found so favourable for the discovery of female excellence..."

There are many more instances of the pump-room being mentioned, including one where the characters "walked down to the pump-room...[and] tasted the water," something, I was quite keen to do. 

The Pump Room has been made into a beautiful Georgian style restaurant, where gung ho Austenians can live out there Regency fantasies. The tea, food, and ambiance all are excellent, and you are invited to "taste" the mineral-rich waters which flow through a beautiful fountain in the central room. 

I, like Catherine Moreland, also found that "female excellence" was easy to meet with at the Pump Room. I ended up making friends with an elderly couple, Mike and Elisabeth, in line waiting for the restaurant to open. As they were leaving, Elisabeth came and sat with me and asked about my dissertation work and my time in London. I learned that she was born in Sweden, but grew up in California, and had moved here years ago to attend Theology school. Upon my expressing interest in this, she told me that she "could tell I was a Christian" and that she was happy to meet me. Her husband had been a minister for many years, and now that they are both retired, they are traveling a bit more. She told me if I make it out to where they live, to let her know, and she will give me travel advice. We exchanged numbers, and I felt quite blessed to have met her.

After the Pump Room, it was time to head back to Bath. I had received an email from the National Art Library (housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum) informing me that I could come to their reading room to view manuscripts that very day – so once again (a la the British Library) I arrived in London, rushed to drop off my bags, and then it was off to the races to view some manuscripts at the V&A. I was able to look through William Mulready's notebook (a noteworthy Academician and illustrator from the nineteenth century), as well as read several letters from prominent artists of the day. I also looked through a book of letters and articles about the members of the RA from the time period, and learned a lot about Wilkie Collins' father William, who was a prominent artist and apparently quite involved with the verbal arts as well. This was interesting and has allowed me to situate Wilkie Collins more centrally within a network of verbal (Charles Dickens, Dante Gabriel Rossetti) and visual (his father, William, and his brother Charles) artists. 

After the V&A, I went back to the flat where I awaited the arrival of two of my friends from Rice. Taylin and Jessica were at a conference in Venice, but they flew over to do some research at the BL and decided to stay with me. They arrived around 8:00pm, and we went out for dinner the Queen's Pub. Quite fun!

Wednesday 

Wednesday was another day chock full of research and tourism. Early on in the day, Jess and I went to the Charles Dickens Museum, where we had a fascinating conversation with a local volunteer about Dickens' life. I learned, again, how inextricable the worlds of visual and verbal art are when we found out that Dickens' daughter, Katey, was married to Wilkie Collins' brother Charles, one of the members of the Pre-Raphaelites, and that she was a talented artist herself. After her marriage to Charles ended, she remarried an Italian painter, and was closely connected to the artworld for her entire life. 

Next, Jess and I split up, and I went to the Art of Literature exhibition at Christie's Auction House. This was fascinating, and a perfect thematic exhibit for me to examine (thank you for telling me about it, Nadia!).

After Christie's I went to the National Gallery to view the final painting of Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus and John Constable's The Haywain. Just as beautiful in person! And Turner's picture was bigger than I expected, which requires some further thought on my part. Scale is so important. 

After the National Gallery, I went to meet up with a friend from Dickens Universe, Elia. I hadn't seen her in three years (she lives and works in the UK and recently finished a PhD from the University of Exeter). We were able to go for a lovely stroll through St. James Park, stop for a drink, and do a bit of tourism. We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben! 

Thursday 

Thursday, I decided to spend the whole day with Taylin and Jess. We went to the Camden Markets, the Burroughs Market, the Tate Modern, revisited Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, and finally made it home to cook dinner and pack their bags (they left at 3am the next morning). A long, long day, but a fun one!

Friday

Yesterday, I went back to the British Library and did a lot of logistical work. Not super fun, but needful. And now, you are up to date! Thank you for continuing to read and follow along on my adventures! <3 

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