Faust: A Dramatic Poem by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von; Hayward Esq., A. (Translation, Notes, Etc.) - 1853

Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1853. 1853 Roman numerals at title page; A New Edition. Adjacent copyright: Advertisement for the Third Edition. Translated in English prose, notes by A. Hayward. Includes new preface to the Third Edition, and the Second Edition. Dark brown cloth boards, large ornate cover design w/raised borders, gilt embossed spine titles, moderate corner, shelf wear, rub. Pages generally very good, some toning, tanning. Name, embossed seal from 1854: Wilde & Brothers, Booksellers, Stationers, Cor. of Main. & Union Sts., Wheeling, VA. Below this, attractive name, memo, date: R. S. Q. Laidley, From a Friend, May 6, 1954. The Faustian legend has captured the imagination for centuries. In Goethe's Faust, the reader discovers the most famous expression of this old German tale. The classic story of a man who makes the deal with the devil and pays with his soul. The influence of this theme on literature cannot be understated. The second part of Goethe's masterpiece opens with Faust struggling to recover from the death of his beloved Gretchen. The quick-witted demon Mephistopheles soon persuades him to look beyond his sorrow and enter the world of politics and power, but the great scholar is still eager for new sensations, and asks Mephistopheles to reveal Helen of Troy to him in a vision. Overwhelmed by her beauty, Faust demands she be brought back from the underworld - but even this fails to bring him contentment, and his appetite for knowledge remains unsated. Completed a few months before Goethe's death, this rich and allusive work weaves together a wealth of diverse philosophical ideas and influences, reworking the medieval myth of Dr. Faustus and speculating upon the search for truth in the Age of Enlightenment. Includes Walpurgis-Night's Dream; Or Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding Feast, Intermezzo. One-hundred-and-six pages of Notes and Appendix. 322 pages. Stereotyped by Hobart & Robbins, Boston. Eight pages of New Editions and Books from Ticknor, Reed, and Fields at back. Insured post.. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall. Book.