A Season at Harrogate

Benjamin Blunderhead reports to his mother in Derbyshire on the pleasures and discomforts of a stay at Harrogate. Written as rhyming letters, Mrs. Hofland's work watches spa society through a talkative visitor who has settled at the Crown in Low Harrogate. His accounts move from generous meals and competing recommendations for doctors to the smell and taste of the mineral waters, with plenty of attention to the people gathered around the well.

The social comedy extends to dancing, elaborate appearances and the struggle for church seats. A meeting with a sick widower introduces a more serious note, as the narrator listens to the man's grief and offers help. Published in 1812, the volume also announces notes on places of interest near Harrogate. Readers interested in verse, resort customs or changing social manners will find a detailed picture of holiday society, where fashionable amusement shares space with illness and sympathy.