Abstract

First published in 1994, this scholarly edition of a major Renaissance text is edited and introduced by John Henry Jones, a leading expert on the Faust legend. The English translation of the best-selling German Faust Book of 1587 has long been known as Marlowe's principal source for Dr Faustus. The earliest surviving edition of this translation, published in 1592, is here presented complete, in modern spelling and with a line register for reference, together with full details of all alterations and omissions from the German source. Textual comparisons with Doctor Faustus and with later editions of the English Faust Book provide crucial information in the development of the Faust theme in England and Germany. In an introduction making full use of hitherto unpublished research, Dr Jones offers new arguments both on the dating of Marlowe's play, and on the personal history and probable identity of the original translator of the German Faust Book, known only as 'P. F. Gent'.