Faust, Part I, Egmont and Hermann, Dorothea, Dr Faustus: The Five Foot Shelf of Classics, Vol. XIX (in 51 Volumes)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · Christopher Marlowe

Jul 2010 · Cosimo, Inc.

About this ebook

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XIX features important plays that continue to inspire modern works of literature: [ Faust, Part I, the 1808 deal-with-the-Devil morality play by German writer JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (1749-1832), as well as his 1788 tragedy Egmont and his 1797 verse novelette of the French Revolution, Hermann and Dorothea [ Dr. Faustus, by English dramatist CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-1593), the earlier take on the Faust legend, which remains one of the finest examples of Elizabethan drama

About the author

Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England on February 6, 1564. He received a B.A. in 1584 and an M.A. in 1587 from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His original plans for a religious career were put aside when he decided to become a poet and playwright. His earliest work was translating Lucan and Ovid from Latin into English. He translated Vergil's Aeneid as a play. His plays included Tamburlaine the Great, Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Dido, Queen of Carthage. His unfinished poem Hero and Leander was published in 1598. In 1589, he and a friend killed a man, but were acquitted on a plea of self-defense. His political views were unorthodox, and he was thought to be a government secret agent. He was arrested in May 1593 on a charge of atheism. He was killed in a brawl in a Deptford tavern on May 30, 1593.