E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 37921-h.htm or 37921-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37921/pg37921-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37921/37921-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See http://www.archive.org/details/bathroadhistoryf00harp THE BATH ROAD * * * * * WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THE BRIGHTON ROAD: Old Times and New on a Classic Highway. THE PORTSMOUTH ROAD, and its Tributaries, To-day, and in Days of Old. THE DOVER ROAD: Annals of an Ancient Turnpike. THE EXETER ROAD: The Story of the West of England Highway. [_In the Press._ * * * * * [Illustration: GEORGE THE THIRD TRAVELLING FROM WINDSOR TO LONDON, 1806. (_After R. B. Davis._)] THE BATH ROAD History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by CHARLES G. HARPER Author of "The Brighton Road," "The Portsmouth Road," "The Dover Road," &c. &c. [Illustration] Illustrated by the Author, and from Old Prints and Pictures London: Chapman & Hall, Limited 1899 (_All Rights Reserved_) Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London and Beccles. TO E. T. COOK, ESQ. _Dear Mr. Cook,_ _It was by your favour, as Editor of the_ DAILY NEWS, _that the very gist of this book first saw the light, in the form of two articles in the columns of that paper. It seems, then, peculiarly appropriate that these pages--representing, in the measurements common to journalists and authors, a growth from four thousand to some sixty thousand words--should be inscribed to yourself._ _Sincerely yours_, CHARLES G. HARPER. _Preface_