SOURCE: "More Light on Rasselas: The Background of the Egyptian Episodes," in Philological Quarterly, Vol. XLVIII, No. 1, January, 1969, pp. 42-58.

In the following essay, Weitzman identifies sources Johnson probably used for the Egyptian settings in Rasselas, arguing that the sources reflect Johnson's intent in incorporating Cairo, the pyramids, and other Eastern elements into his story. The critic adds that sources further support the hypothesis that Johnson did not simply compose Rasselas in seven days without any prior preparation, as is often claimed.

Recent scholarly investigations of Johnson's Rasselas have tended to focus on the Abyssinian setting of the tale to the neglect of the second half of the book, the Egyptian setting. In the past two decades numerous articles' have appeared detailing the sources which Johnson either consulted for the Abyssinian portion of the tale or recollected from memory in the week Boswell claimed² Johnson wrote Rasselas. In...