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Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia — Samuel Johnson

Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

Samuel Johnson

  • Novel
  • Book language: English
  • 108 pages

Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia is a philosophical novel by Samuel Johnson, published in 1759. It follows a young prince who leaves the sheltered Happy Valley with his sister and companions to search for a meaningful and happy life, reflecting on human hopes and disappointments. It is worth reading for its clear, thoughtful prose and its enduring questions about contentment.

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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).

Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.

Opening of the book

Transcribed from the 1889 Cassell & Company edition by
David Price, email [email protected]
CASSELL’S NATIONAL LIBRARY.
Rasselas
PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA
BY
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited:
LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE.
1889.
INTRODUCTION.
Rasselas was written by Samuel Johnson in the year 1759,
when his age was fifty.  He had written his London in
1738; his Vanity of Human Wishes in 1740; his Rambler
between March, 1750, and March, 1752.  In 1755 his
Dictionary had appeared, and Dublin, by giving him its
honorary LL.D., had enabled his friends to call him
“Doctor” Johnson.  His friends were many, and his honour
among men was great.  He owed them to his union of
intellectual power with unflinching probity.  But he had
worked hard, battling against the wolf without, and the
black dog within—poverty and hypochondria.  He was still

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Contents

  1. Rasselas PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA
  2. INTRODUCTION.
  3. CHAPTER I DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY.
  4. CHAPTER II THE DISCONTENT OF RASSELAS IN THE HAPPY VALLEY.
  5. CHAPTER III THE WANTS OF HIM THAT WANTS NOTHING.
  6. CHAPTER IV THE PRINCE CONTINUES TO GRIEVE AND MUSE.
  7. CHAPTER V THE PRINCE MEDITATES HIS ESCAPE.
  8. CHAPTER VI A DISSERTATION ON THE ART OF FLYING.
  9. CHAPTER VII THE PRINCE FINDS A MAN OF LEARNING.
  10. CHAPTER VIII THE HISTORY OF IMLAC.
  11. CHAPTER IX THE HISTORY OF IMLAC (continued).
  12. CHAPTER X IMLAC’S HISTORY (continued)—A DISSERTATION UPON POETRY.
  13. CHAPTER XI IMLAC’S NARRATIVE (continued)—A HINT OF PILGRIMAGE.
  14. CHAPTER XII THE STORY OF IMLAC (continued).
  15. CHAPTER XIII RASSELAS DISCOVERS THE MEANS OF ESCAPE.
  16. CHAPTER XIV RASSELAS AND IMLAC RECEIVE AN UNEXPECTED VISIT.
  17. CHAPTER XV THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS LEAVE THE VALLEY, AND SEE MANY WONDERS.
  18. CHAPTER XVI THEY ENTER CAIRO, AND FIND EVERY MAN HAPPY.
  19. CHAPTER XVII THE PRINCE ASSOCIATES WITH YOUNG MEN OF SPIRIT AND GAIETY.
  20. CHAPTER XVIII THE PRINCE FINDS A WISE AND HAPPY MAN.
  21. CHAPTER XIX A GLIMPSE OF PASTORAL LIFE.
  22. CHAPTER XX THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY.
  23. CHAPTER XXI THE HAPPINESS OF SOLITUDE—THE HERMIT’S HISTORY.
  24. CHAPTER XXII THE HAPPINESS OF A LIFE LED ACCORDING TO NATURE.
  25. CHAPTER XXIII THE PRINCE AND HIS SISTER DIVIDE BETWEEN THEM THE WORK OF OBSERVATION.
  26. CHAPTER XXIV THE PRINCE EXAMINES THE HAPPINESS OF HIGH STATIONS.
  27. CHAPTER XXV THE PRINCESS PURSUES HER INQUIRY WITH MORE DILIGENCE THAN SUCCESS.
  28. CHAPTER XXVI THE PRINCESS CONTINUES HER REMARKS UPON PRIVATE LIFE.
  29. CHAPTER XXVII DISQUISITION UPON GREATNESS.
  30. CHAPTER XXVIII RASSELAS AND NEKAYAH CONTINUE THEIR CONVERSATION.

and 22 more chapters

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