01), is the
most circumstantial of all, writing on p. 197:--

'Her novel _Northanger Abbey_, which is full of Bath, was finished in
1798, and in 1803 she sold the manuscript for ten pounds to Lewis Bull,
a bookseller in the "Lower Walks" (now "Terrace Walk"). Bull had in 1785
succeeded James Leake, and he in turn was succeeded by John Upham. Bull
was the founder of the well-known library in Bond Street, London--for
many years known as Bull's Library.'

CHAPTER XIV

_SENSE AND SENSIBILITY_

1809-1811

We are now bringing Jane Austen to the home which she was to occupy
through all the remaining eight years of her life--the home from which
she went to lie on her deathbed at Winchester. Into this period were to
be crowded a large proportion of her most important literary work, and
all the contemporary recognition which she was destined to enjoy. The
first six of these years must have been singularly happy. So far as we
know, she was in good health, she was a member of a cheerful family
party, and she was under the protection of brothers who would see that
she and her mother and sister suffered no discomfort. The eldest, James,
Rector of Steventon, could reach his mother's house in a morning's ride
through pleasant country lanes; Edward, the Squire, occasionally
occupied the 'Great House' at Chawton, and often lent it to one of his
naval brothers; while Henry in London was only too happy to receive his
sisters, show them the sights of the metropolis, and transact Jane's
literary business. At home were her mother, her life-long friend Martha,
and above all her 'other self'--Cassandra--from whom she had no secrets,
and with whom disagreement was impossible. But besides all these living
objects of interest, Jane also had her own separate and peculiar world,
peopled by the creations of her own bright imagination, which by degrees
became more and more real to her as she found others accepting and
admiring them. She must have resumed the habit of writing with
diffidence, after her previous experience; but the sense of progress,
and the success which attended her venture in publishing _Sense and
Sensibility_ would by degrees make ample amends for past
disappointments. She was no doubt aided by the quiet of her home and its
friendly surroundings. In this tranquil spot, where the past and present
even now join peaceful hands, she found happy leisure, repose of mind,
and absence of distraction, such as any sustained crea