Faust I & II

The definitive English version of a timeless masterpiece

One of the great classics of European literature, Faust is Goethe’s most complex and profound work. To tell the dramatic and tragic story of one man’s pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power, Goethe drew from an immense variety of cultural and historical material, and a wealth of poetic and theatrical traditions. What results is a tour de force illustrating Goethe’s own moral and artistic development and a symbolic, cautionary tale of Western humanity striving restlessly and ruthlessly for progress. Capturing the sense, poetic variety, and tonal range of the German original in contemporary English, Stuart Atkins’s translation presents the formal and rhythmic dexterity of Faust in all its richness and beauty.

The Collected Works of Goethe presents modern translations of a representative portion of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s vast body of work. Selected from more than 140 volumes in German, this twelve-volume series remains the standard collection in English and features poetry, drama, fiction, memoir, criticism, and scientific writing.

Edited and translated by Stuart Atkins