THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABISSINIA. AN ASIATIC TALE. THE TWO VOLUMES COMPLETE IN ONE. VOLUME THE FIRST [and SECOND]

[Johnson, Samuel]

Published by Printed [by Robert Bell] for every purchaser, America [Philadelphia], 1768

About this Item

12mo. 192pp. Frontispiece, "A Perspective View of Grand Cairo" [either by Hawkins or Claypoole]. Volume the Second begins at page [95]. As Fleeman's Bibliography notes, Page 129 is printed as '219.' Title page includes the lines from La Rochefoucauld: "The Labour or Exercise of the Body, freeth Men from Pains of the Mind; and 'tis this that constitutes the Happiness of the Poor. . ." Scattered foxing, bound in original calf with raised spine bands, gilt-lettered red morocco spine label [front hinge starting, some rubbing]. Some pencil scribblings. Very Good. "This is the first American edition of Rasselas, and is extremely rare" [Rosenbach], particularly so in its complete state, as here, with frontispiece and Johnson's final three pages on 'The Voyage of Life.' We have not located any auction records after 1920, nor have we found any recent complete copies. "It was not until 1924, when Professor Chauncey Brewster Tinker identified the volume in an article in the Yale Review, that it was learned that Robert Bell had issued the book in Philadelphia 1768, with the curious imprint: 'America: Printed for every purchaser.' The book is quite scarce; only twelve copies can be located, and most of them lack the frontispiece engraving." [Metzdorf, The First American 'Rasselas' and its Imprint. 47 The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 374. 1953.] One of the earliest works of fiction printed in America, Bell's 'Rasselas' issued in the same year as Mein and Fleeming's Boston printing of 'A Sentimental Journey'; and soon after Mein & Fleeming printed 'The Vicar of Wakefield' in Boston in 1767, under a false Dublin imprint. The title page's verso prints Johnson's evaluation of the "CHARACTER of the HISTORY of RASSELAS," noting that "the author has not put his name to this work. . . Perhaps no other book ever inculcated a purer and sounder morality; no book ever made a more just estimate of human life, it's [sic] pursuits, and its enjoyments. The descriptions are rich and luxuriant, and shew a poetic imagination not inferior to our best writers in verse. The style, which is peculiar and characteristical of the author, is lively, correct and harmonious." FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Fleeman 59.4R/6, page 793. ESTC W12717. Evans 10939. Hildeburn 2368. Rosenbach Children's Books 60.

Seller Inventory # 41863

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABISSINIA. AN ASIATIC TALE. THE TWO VOLUMES COMPLETE IN ONE. VOLUME THE FIRST [and SECOND]
• Publisher: Printed [by Robert Bell] for every purchaser, America [Philadelphia]
• Publication Date: 1768
• Seller catalogs:
  • EVANS
  • IMPRINTS
  • AMERICANA
  • LITERATURE
  • ENGLAND