The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen/Volume 11/Letters of Jane Austen, Part 1/Letters of 1799
1799
The third division consists of four letters written from Bath in May and June, 1799, when Mr. and Mrs. Austen of Godmersham had taken a house for a month, in order that the former might “try the waters” for the benefit of his health, which was supposed to be delicate; the experiment seems to have been successful, for he lived fifty-three years longer, dying at Godmersham in December, 1852, at the good old age of eighty-two. Cassandra had stayed at home with her father at Steventon, and Mrs. Austen and Jane had accompanied the Godmersham party. These letters contain little more than ordinary chit-chat, and for the most part explain themselves. There is another allusion to “Pride and Prejudice” under the name of “First Impressions,” which Martha Lloyd seems to have been allowed to read; another proof that this work at least was read and talked over in the family long before it was published.