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Rasselas and other tales
A new standard edition for three works by Samuel Johnson: Rasselas , “The Vision of Theodore,” and “The Fountains”
This volume brings together three of Johnson’s longest fictional pieces, showing the unusual similarities in some of their main themes and emphases. Rasselas , a philosophical tale that embodies the full range of Johnson’s thinking on moral, psychological, and literary matters, has been described as central to an understanding of Johnson and his age. “The Vision of Theodore,” a moral allegory, and “The Fountains,” a fairy tale, demonstrate the variety of Johnson’s narrative skills.
The three works are introduced and annotated by Gwin J. Kolb, an authority on Rasselas . The introductions set the scene surrounding the creation and printing of the texts and cover a wider range of topics than has been addressed in previous editions. And the historical notes, which concentrate on clarifying the meaning of numerous words, comprise the largest body of glosses that has ever accompanied the three pieces. The textual notes provide a record of Johnson’s revisions of Rasselas and of Mrs. Piozzi’s manuscript transcription of “The Fountains.” This book will be the standard edition of these notable works.
This volume brings together three of Johnson’s longest fictional pieces, showing the unusual similarities in some of their main themes and emphases. Rasselas , a philosophical tale that embodies the full range of Johnson’s thinking on moral, psychological, and literary matters, has been described as central to an understanding of Johnson and his age. “The Vision of Theodore,” a moral allegory, and “The Fountains,” a fairy tale, demonstrate the variety of Johnson’s narrative skills.
The three works are introduced and annotated by Gwin J. Kolb, an authority on Rasselas . The introductions set the scene surrounding the creation and printing of the texts and cover a wider range of topics than has been addressed in previous editions. And the historical notes, which concentrate on clarifying the meaning of numerous words, comprise the largest body of glosses that has ever accompanied the three pieces. The textual notes provide a record of Johnson’s revisions of Rasselas and of Mrs. Piozzi’s manuscript transcription of “The Fountains.” This book will be the standard edition of these notable works.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published December 26, 1990
About the author
Samuel Johnson
4,722 books424 followersPeople note British writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, known as "Doctor Johnson," for his
Dictionary of the English Language
(1755), for
Lives of the Poets
(1781), and for his series of essays, published under the titles
The Rambler
(1752) and
The Idler
(1758).
Samuel Johnson used the first consistent Universal Etymological English Dictionary , first published in 1721, of British lexicographer Nathan Bailey as a reference.
Beginning as a journalist on Grub street, this English author made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, and editor. People described Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history." James Boswell subjected him to Life of Samuel Johnson , one of the most celebrated biographies in English. This biography alongside other biographies, documented behavior and mannerisms of Johnson in such detail that they informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome (TS), a condition unknown to 18th-century physicians. He presented a tall and robust figure, but his odd gestures and tics confused some persons on their first encounters.
Johnson attended Pembroke college, Oxford for a year before his lack of funds compelled him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London, where he began to write essays for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage and the poem " The Vanity of Human Wishes ." Christian morality permeated works of Johnson, a devout and compassionate man. He, a conservative Anglican, nevertheless respected persons of other denominations that demonstrated a commitment to teachings of Christ.
After nine years of work, people in 1755 published his preeminent Dictionary of the English Language, bringing him popularity and success until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1905, a century and a half later. In the following years, he published essays, an influential annotated edition of plays of William Shakespeare, and the well-read novel Rasselas . In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland , travel narrative of Johnson, described the journey. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets , which includes biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets.
After a series of illnesses, Johnson died on the evening; people buried his body in Westminster abbey. In the years following death, people began to recognize a lasting effect of Samuel Johnson on literary criticism even as the only great critic of English literature.
Samuel Johnson used the first consistent Universal Etymological English Dictionary , first published in 1721, of British lexicographer Nathan Bailey as a reference.
Beginning as a journalist on Grub street, this English author made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, and editor. People described Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history." James Boswell subjected him to Life of Samuel Johnson , one of the most celebrated biographies in English. This biography alongside other biographies, documented behavior and mannerisms of Johnson in such detail that they informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome (TS), a condition unknown to 18th-century physicians. He presented a tall and robust figure, but his odd gestures and tics confused some persons on their first encounters.
Johnson attended Pembroke college, Oxford for a year before his lack of funds compelled him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London, where he began to write essays for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage and the poem " The Vanity of Human Wishes ." Christian morality permeated works of Johnson, a devout and compassionate man. He, a conservative Anglican, nevertheless respected persons of other denominations that demonstrated a commitment to teachings of Christ.
After nine years of work, people in 1755 published his preeminent Dictionary of the English Language, bringing him popularity and success until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1905, a century and a half later. In the following years, he published essays, an influential annotated edition of plays of William Shakespeare, and the well-read novel Rasselas . In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland , travel narrative of Johnson, described the journey. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets , which includes biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets.
After a series of illnesses, Johnson died on the evening; people buried his body in Westminster abbey. In the years following death, people began to recognize a lasting effect of Samuel Johnson on literary criticism even as the only great critic of English literature.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 5, 2011
Rasselas is supposedly about an Abyssinian prince, but in reality it is a critique of the Enlightenment, particularly of "enlightened" views of the good life; it could have been given the title of one of the chapters in MacIntyre's After Virtue: "Why the Enlightenment Project had to fail. Johnson is remarkably clear sighted in showing the inadequacy of the options that the Enlightenment gives us, but he gives only the slightest of hints at what things might look like on another system. In the final chapter "Conclusion: in which Nothing is Concluded" the only promising solutions to the problem are seen to be impractical in the given circumstances.
October 31, 2012
Try to get a hold of this edition - it also contains Johnson's much shorter 'The Vision of Theodore' and 'The Fountains: A Fairytale'. Also very interesting moralist narratives
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews