Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

From the wager between God and Mephistopheles and the pact Faust makes with the latter—that this genial, urbane devil could have his soul if ever Faust became satisfied with any experience or knowledge Mephistopheles could show him—the drama unfolds in scenes that are human and compelling, that hold the reader by their despair and ecstasy, their tender love, passionate desire and wisdom, but also by their gaiety, humor, and irony. As Faust proceeds with his devilish guide, it is his striving for understanding that becomes important, not the attainment, and in fact this is what saves him in the end. Part I of Faust, which Goethe published twenty-four years before its sequel, deals with Faust's journey through the everyday world and his love for Gretchen. It is made especially memorable in this translation, which Victor Lange, Chairman of the Department of German at Princeton, has called "certainly the most usable and most appealing Faust translation in English. It is modern without losing the dignity of the original and is perhaps the only translation that conveys something of the freshness and poetic vitality of Goethe's own speech."

"A creation of importance could be produced only when its author isolates himself." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in Truth and Fiction Relating to my LifeThe Works of J. W. von Goethe, Vol. IV--Truth and Fiction Relating to my Life Vol. I, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is part of a 14-volume set originally published in 1901-1902. Truth and Fiction Relating to my Life, Vol. I (published between 1811-1814), is an autobiography by Goethe that comprises the time from the poet's childhood to the days in 1775, when he was about to leave for Weimar.