edited by Jason Colavito
JasonColavito.com Books, 2011
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"The Faust legend is a conglomerate of anonymous popular traditions,
largely of mediæval origin, which in the latter part of the sixteenth
century came to be associated with an actual individual of the name of
Faustus whose notorious career during the first four decades of the
century, as a pseudoscientific mountebank, juggler, and magician, can be
traced through various parts of Germany. The “Faust Book” of 1587, the
earliest collection of these tales, is of prevailingly theological
character. It represents Faust as a sinner and reprobate, and it holds
up his compact with Mephistopheles and his subsequent damnation as an
example of human recklessness and as a warning to the faithful to cling
to the orthodox means of Christian salvation."
-- Kuno Francke (1913)
First published in Germany in 1587, the Faust Book told the story of Dr. Faustus, a scholar who sold his soul to the Devil for knowledge and power. Translated shortly thereafter into English, the book inspired Christopher Marlowe's masterpiece, Doctor Faustus. This edition for the general reader presents the English Faust Book with modernized spelling and punctuation. This edition also includes a selection of earlier texts documenting the life of the real Dr. Faustus and some of the ancient and medieval legends that contributed to the Faust myth--a tale that became a foundational myth for Western Civilization. This edition contains:
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