Bath Books

Printed on archival watercolour paper with waterbased inks, these fine art reproductions are a true and faithful reproduction of an original watercolour painting by local artist Irene Marsh.

Irene’s original paintings are held in private collections around the world, admired for their remarkable detail and delicate craftsmanship. Each original watercolour often took up to a year to complete, as Irene worked meticulously with a magnifying glass and fine brush to capture every subtle nuance — a testament to her extraordinary patience and skill.

The History

In the heart of Bath, between the Circus and Crescent, encapsulating the historical spirit of the city. The bookstore specialises in secondhand and antiquarian books, with specialist areas including books on Bath, Jane Austen, children’s and illustrated books, literature,history, art and architecture, travel and topography.

A lovely way to become familiar with Bath and its history is to immerse yourself in stories set in the beautiful city, or written by authors who lived and wrote in Bath. 

1. Persuasion by Jane Austen

The connection between Jane Austen and Bath is well-known, and both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are set in Bath.

Persuasion is a touching and enchanting novel about a second chance in love, after a failed engagement, for Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth as the two find themselves thrown together again, in the social world of early nineteenth-century Bath. Bath is an incredibly romantic city and Jane Austen’s novels are the perfect romantic read.

2. Vathek by William Beckford

Beckford lived at the Fonthill Estate in Wiltshire and later moved to Lansdown Crescent, Bath. His eighteenth-century Gothic novel, Vathek, written in 1782, is full of ghosts and spirits and heavily influenced by Orientalism, which was a European obsession in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

In the story, Vathek is a monarch who builds a high tower so that he can survey all the kingdoms of the world. But his ego and ruthlessness bring about his own damnation. Interestingly, Beckford himself supervised the ambitious design and construction of a great 270-foot central tower to Fonthill Abbey, on the Fonthill Estate, but it collapsed after only a few years.

3. The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker by Tobias Smollett

This humorous and satirical novel uses the very different perspectives of the various characters to describe the places they visit, which includes Bath as a real highlight of the book.