Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

Joshua Grasso (East Central University)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1759

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel
Romance

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Samuel Johnson’s

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

(1759) appeared in one of the most significant years of the Enlightenment: a year of war (considered the “Great Year” due to Britain’s many victories in the Seven Years’ War), astronomical occurrences (Halley’s Comet), cultural endeavors (the opening of the British Museum) and a series of entrances and exits (the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft, the death of George Friedrich Handel). Even more coincidentally, the book

Rasselas

would be forever linked with—Voltaire’s

Candide

—also appeared in 1759, as if Britain and France were each vying to make a definitive statement on the eighteenth century’s “choice of life”. Yet if Johnson felt the weight of the moment, he certainly responded in his best Grub Street…

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2169 words

Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 February 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=596, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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