The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia - Softcover

Johnson, Samuel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1450532926 ISBN 13: 9781450532921

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010

Synopsis

After Samuel Johnson translated A Voyage to Abyssinia by Jeronimo Lobo, Influenced by the vogue for exotic locations, he used it as the basis for what was later called a "philosophical romance". The plot is related to Rasselas, the fourth son of the King of Abissinia, who leaves his home with his sister, Nekayah, and a philosopher, Imlac. Rasselas intends search the secret of happiness.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In Samuel Johnson’s classic philosophical tale, the prince and princess of Abissinia escape their confinement in the Happy Valley and conduct an ultimately unsuccessful search for a choice of life that leads to happiness. Johnson uses the conventions of the Oriental tale to depict a universal restlessness of desire. The excesses of Orientalism―its superfluous splendours, its despotic tyrannies, its riotous pleasures―cannot satisfy us. His tale challenges us by showing the problem of finding happiness to be insoluble while still dignifying our quest for fulfillment.

The appendices to this Broadview edition include reviews and biographies, selections from the sequel Dinarbas (1790), and the complete text of Elizabeth Pope Whately’s The Second Part of the History of Rasselas (1835). Selections from Johnson’s translation of the travel narrative A Voyage to Abyssinia, as well as his Oriental tales in the Rambler, are also included, along with another popular tale, Joseph Addison’s “The Vision of Mirzah,” and selections from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters.

About the Author:

Dr Saumuel Johnson was born on 18 September 1709. He was one of England's greatest literary figures: a poet, essayist, biographer, lexicographer and often considered the finest critic of English Literature. Best known for his Dictionary (1755), Johnson also wrote essays for The Rambler (1750-1752) and The Idler (1758-1760). He achieved a feat of English criticism in Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1781). He died on 13 December 1784.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1450532926
• ISBN 13: 9781450532921
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128