The Image of Georgian Bath, 1700-2000: Towns, Heritage, and History - Hardcover

Borsay, Peter; Borsay, P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198202652 ISBN 13: 9780198202653

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2000

Synopsis

This interdisciplinary study explores the evolution, structure, and uses of the image of Georgian Bath, from its genesis in the eighteenth century to its renaissance in the twentieth century. In recent decades there has been both a popular resurgence of interest in heritage and tradition, and a growing academic awareness of the power of imagery in shaping the lives of individuals and societies. There is perhaps no city in Britain so saturated in history and layered with historic imagery as Bath. It therefore provides an ideal case-study to investigate the dynamic fusion and impact of the forces of past and representation. The dominant perception of Bath today is that of a classical and particularly Georgian city. In this stimulating and scholarly study, Peter Borsay examines the construction and development of this image. Its principal components, biography and architecture, are explored, together with the media through which it was constructed and transmitted, as well as its commercial, social, political, and psychological uses. Dr Borsay concludes by relating the findings for Bath to current debates on towns, heritage, and the nature of history.

About this title

Review:

Peter Borsay's monumental study of The Image of Georgian Bath forms a tour de force of the creation and recreation, as well as the forms and the functions, of a particular image of a particular town. (Journal of Urban History)

... a fascinating and convincing picture of the enduring image of Bath as a Georgian town. This is a scholarly and extremely thorough investigation. (Journal of Urban History)

... a wonderfully detailed and deeply erudite analysis of Bath and its image. (Journal of Urban History)

A study that abounds with the wonderful specificity and particularity of lived experience. Peter Borsay has clearly fulfilled his projected aim, to uncover the past 'not as historiography and theory, but as practical phenomenon which affected the way a specific locale evolved, and how its inhabitants and visitors conducted and experienced their lives'. Would that every provincial city had its Borsay! (Eighteenth Century Studies On-line Discussion List)

From the Publisher:

Review from Eighteenth Century Studies On-line Discussion
` A study that abounds with the wonderful specificity and particularity of lived experience. Peter Borsay has clearly fulfilled his projected aim, to uncover the past 'not as historiography and theory, but as practical phenomenon which affected the way a specific locale evolved, and how its inhabitants and visitors conducted and experienced their lives'. Would that every provincial city had its Borsay!'

Eighteenth Century Studies On-line Discussion List

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0198202652
• ISBN 13: 9780198202653
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 452