Drama. Translated from the German by Mike Smith. A new translation of one of the greatest monuments of German literature. This is the famous first part (Faust. Der Tragodie erster Teil), and does not include the extraordinary (and virtually unstageable) Part 2, completed many years later.

First published in 1808, and then, in a revised edition, in 1829, the story a variant of the old Faustus legend concerns the scientist (or perhaps, better, natural philosopher), Dr. Heinrich Faust, whose scientific quests, and their lack of success, lead him into a state of great...