II

IIThe German Faust Book

The German Faust Book

Itwas not long before a publisher saw the business possibilities of the legend, for in the autumn of the year 1587 there appeared at Frankfort-on-the-Main the first printed account of the life and death of Faust:—

Historia Von D. Johann Fausten, dem weitbeschreyten Zauberer unnd Schwartzkünstler, Wie er sich gegen dem Teuffel auff eine benandte zeit verschrieben, Was er hierzwischen für seltzame Abentheuwer gesehen, selbs angerichtet und getrieben, bisz er endtlich seinen wol verdienten Lohn empfangen. Mehrertheils ausz seinen eygenen hinderlassenen Schrifften, allen hochtragenden, fürwitzigen und Gottlosen Menschen zum schrecklichen Beyspiel, abscheuwlichen Exempel, und treuwhertziger Warnung zusammen gezogen, und in den Druck verfertiget. Iacobi IIII. Seyt Gott underthänig, widerstehet dem Teuffel, so fleuhet er von euch. Cum Gratia et Privilegio. Gedruckt zu Franckfurt am Mayn, durch Johann Spies. M.D.LXXXVII. [History of D. Johann Faust, the notorious Magician and Necromancer, how he sold himself for a stipulated Time to the Devil, What strange Things he saw, performed and practised during this Time, until at last he received his well-merited Reward. For the most Part extractedand herewith printed from his own posthumous Writings as an awful and abominable Example and sincere Warning to all presumptuous, inquisitive and godless Persons. “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (James iv). Cum Gratia et Privilegio. Printed at Frankfort-on-the-Main by Johann Spies. M.D.LXXXVII.]

The story is preceded by a dedication to two friends of the publisher, and aPreface to the Christian Reader, in the former of which there is reference to the widespread popularity of the legend: “Since many years ago there was great and universal talk in Germany about the various adventures of Doct. Johannes Faustus, the notorious magician and necromancer, and everywhere there is a great demand for the history of the said Faustus at entertainments and gatherings, and since likewise there is now and then mention in the works of some modern historians of this magician, his devilish arts and fearful end, it has often been a matter of astonishment to me that nobody has composed a regular account of this fearful story and published it as a warning to the whole of Christendom. I have also not hesitated to enquire from scholars and wise people whether this history has perhaps already been written down by anyone, but I have never been able to discover anything certain, until recently it was communicated and sent to me by a good friend in Speyer, with the request that I should publish and present it as a fearful example of devilish deceit, murder of body and soul, as a warning to all Christians.” This dedication is dated Monday, the 4th of September,1587, and signed by Johann Spies himself. The Preface to the Christian Reader, amid much quoting of the Bible, declares that, “The exorcisers of the devil seldom come to a good end, as is to be seen in the case of Dr. Johann Faustus, who was alive within the memory of man, signed a compact and league with the devil, experienced many strange adventures and practised abominable infamy and vice, with guzzling, swilling, fornication and all kinds of sensual pleasure, until at last the devil gave him his deserved reward and wrung his neck in a dreadful manner.”

This little volume must have been enormously popular, for although it appeared so late in the season, there were before the end of the year at least four reprints, a new original edition, and a further edition containing eight new chapters. Theeditio princeps(of which there is a copy in the British Museum) contains 69 chapters.

It is not long since an older version of theHistoriain manuscript, dating from the seventies or early eighties of the sixteenth century, was discovered.[5]It contains a different preface and two more chapters, one of which describes how Faust releases a nobleman and old schoolfellow named von Reuttpüffel from captivity in Turkey, and brings him home just after his wife has married again. The story is told with allthe hearty bawdiness of the time, and the wife is made to feel thankful that her vigorous first husband has returned to her, after her single, disappointing experience with the second one. There are in addition a few prophecies made by Faust in his last year concerning the Papacy, including one concerning the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572. It was written, of course, after the event. The preface states that the manuscript was translated from the Latin, but whether the first version of the Faust book was really written in any other language than German it is impossible to say.

It is already obvious from the Preface to the Faust book that the publication of the wicked life and dreadful doom of Faust was intended as a warning to all who could not find peace and content in the bosom of the Church, but would seek to explore beyond, with the treacherous aid of science, which at that time, of course, included magic. Curiosity in theological matters was regarded as an unhealthy symptom, and was only playing into the hands of the Devil, who, in the words of the Epistle of Peter, quoted in the Preface, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Faust represents the spirit of enquiry, which was regarded as fatal to the soul, but nobody seems to have wondered whether a soul that had to be so jealously guarded and could be so easily lost was worth having at all. The strong Lutheran tendency which was a characteristic of the activities of Spies as a publisher, is also a marked feature of the Faust book. Martin Luther himself shared the prevailing view of the time, that the world is divided into twocamps, that of God and that of the Devil, and the latter is mentioned frequently in his writings. Faust can, with some reservation, be looked upon as the great counterpart of Luther; they are the two poles of the sixteenth century. In the book, the contrast is all the more striking since it does not appear as an intentional element in the work. The views of Luther are not definitely defended, but are taken as a matter of course, and the contrast between the theologian and the sceptic develops naturally from the theme, though the Lutheran doctrine occasionally comes prominently to the fore. Both the Faust of the legend and Luther were Doctors of Theology and closely connected with Wittenberg, the cradle of the Reformation. Starting from the same point, they reached goals which were diametrically opposed. They both lectured on the culture of antiquity, and they had both been in Rome, but whereas Luther had set out with feelings of reverence, only to return in disappointment and indignation, Faust was merely amused and contemplated with cynical complacency the license of the Vatican, where the priests were no better than himself. Luther married in accordance with the tenets of the Church, but Faust rejected the sacrament of marriage for the pagan Helena. Luther based his faith on the Bible, Faust was not content to accept the Holy Writ, but sought to penetrate the forbidden mysteries beyond it. Faust entered into league with the Devil, while Luther hurled his inkstand at him.[6]

It is true that it was not in the spirit of Luther to conceive of the defection from orthodox theology asdefection from God, and the ridicule to which the Church of Rome and its priests are exposed in the Faust book, even the Devil himself appearing in the guise of a monk, would quite possibly even have appealed to his robust sense of humour. Nevertheless, there seems little reason to doubt that the book was written from the Lutheran standpoint. Since, however, in the field of German literary research, it seems impossible for any definite point of view, with whatever weight of proof it may be supported, to be maintained for very long, before a scholar brings forward its exact opposite, which he defends with equally weighty evidence, there has recently been an attempt to prove that the tendency of the Faust book was not Lutheran but Catholic.[7]The author of this theory does not deny that the intention of some passages is obviously hostile to Catholicism, but he declares that they are later interpolations, and endeavours to prove that the book is a parody on Luther, who is represented as a modern Bacchus and companion of the Devil. The first direct anti-clerical reference is the taunt at the celibacy of the clergy in Faust’s conversation with Mephostophiles concerning the former’s desire to take a wife. The Devil endeavours to dissuade him by declaring that marriage is a divine institution, but Faust retorts that the monks and nuns do not marry. This passage is lacking in the Wolfenbüttel MS. In the chapter which deals with the journey through Europe, Faust remarks at Cologne that the Devil is in the Church of St. Ursula with the 11,000 virgins. The MS. hasTempelinstead ofTeufel.When Faust arrives in Rome, he spends three days and nights invisible in the pope’s palace, finding that “these pigs at Rome are fattened and all ready to roast and cook,” and after his experience in the harem at Constantinople, he mounts up in the air in the vestments of a pope. These last two adventures are also to be found in the MS., but Dr. Wolff declares them to be interpolations. His evidence, however, is not convincing, and there is little reason to assume that the spirit of any literary version of the Faust book which may have been extant before 1587 was different from the tendency of the edition published by Spies.

The development from historical fact to legend was influenced considerably by contact with other myths of the same type. There were numerous alleged covenanters with the Devil in the Middle Ages, of whom the most akin to Faust was Theophilus of Adana. But Theophilus was saved eventually from eternal damnation by the intervention of the Virgin Mary, and if the Faust book had really been of Catholic origin, there is little doubt that the Madonna and the Saints would have saved him. The fires of Hell are essential to the spirit of the Faust book; the pact is irrevocable. Many features formerly attributed to other wizards were transferred to Faust, including the Devil in the form of a black dog which always accompanied Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, the enchanted garden conjured up by Albertus Magnus for the Emperor in the midst of winter, and the exorcising of the spirit of Alexander the Great and other Greek heroes by the Abbot Trithemius. The incidentof Helena may be due to the connection with Simon Magus, who was accompanied on his journeys by a courtesan named Helen. The fame of all these magicians sank into obscurity, and the one figure that carried on into future centuries the memory of their deeds was Faust.

When the oral legend was cast into literary form, the anonymous author appears to have consulted many works of reference. The long chapter which describes the journey of Faust and Mephostophiles, as well as the description of Paradise, is based on theBook of Chroniclesof Hartmann Schedel, which appeared in 1493. The peculiar zig-zag nature of the journey is due to the fact that Schedel gives the towns in chronological order, according to the supposed year in which they were founded, and the author of the Faust book has copied them mechanically. Similarly he has taken from the German-Latin dictionary of the Swiss humanist Dasypodius, in alphabetical order, the list of fish, game and wine with which Faust entertains his guests at the court of the Count (really Prince) of Anhalt. For example, the fish are mentioned in the following order:Aal,Barben,Bersing,Bickling,Bolchen,Aschen,Forell,Hecht,Karpffen,Krebs,Moschel,Neunaugen,Platteissen,SalmenandSchleyen, and the wines areBurgunder,Brabänder,Coblentzer,Crabatischer,Elsässer,Engelländer,Frantzösische,Rheinische,Spanische, etc. The conversations concerning the physical sciences and celestial phenomena can be traced toElucidarius, a collection of scientific dialogues.

Augustin Lercheimer’s (pseudonym for ProfessorHermann Witekind of Heidelberg)Christliche Bedenken und Erinnerung von Zauberei, which first appeared in 1585, was formerly thought to have been a direct source of the Faust book, but it is possible that Lercheimer himself borrowed from an earlier manuscript of the Faust book. He anticipates modern science when He protests against the witch-burnings, and declares that witches should be sent to the physician rather than to the judge. In the third edition of his book, which was published in 1597, Lercheimer denounces the Faust book as a libel on the University and Church of Wittenberg:—

“It is all malicious lies.... He had neither house nor yard at Wittenberg or elsewhere, was never at home, lived like a vagabond, was a parasite, guzzled, swilled and lived by his conjuring. How could he have a house and yard by the outer gate of the town in the Scheergasse, since there never was a suburb and therefore no outer gate? Neither was there ever a Scheergasse there. That in such a University, a man whom Melanchthon used to call a cesspool of many devils should have been made Master, to say nothing of Doctor of Theology, which would be an eternal disgrace to the degree and honourable title, who believes that?... About all the other vanity, lies andTeufelsdreckin the book, I will say nothing.... It is, to be sure, nothing new and no cause for surprise that such calumnies are issued by the enemies of our religion, but it is unwarrantable and lamentable that our printers also should publish such books without shame, whereby honest people are slandered andinquisitive youths led to attempt similar magic feats; to say nothing of the abuse of the beautiful and noble art of printing, which has been conferred on us by God.”

The fact that Lercheimer, who was an ardent adherent of Luther, should have condemned the book in such terms, cannot be regarded as evidence of its anti-Lutheran tendency.

Another important manuscript was discovered recently in Nuremberg.[8]A certain Christoph Rosshirt, a teacher of Nuremberg, who had studied in Wittenberg, copied into an album about the year 1575, amidst other matter, anecdotes relating to various magicians, including Doctor Faust. It will be noticed that Faust’s Christian name is given here asGeorge. The Faust stories are four in number:—

1. When Dr. Georgius Faustus is lecturing to the students at the University of Ingolstadt on philosophy and necromancy, he invites some friends to dinner, and tells them that the food and drink they are enjoying come from the wedding-feast of the King of England. He instructs them to hold on to the edge of the towel when water is brought for them to wash their hands, and he will take them to the dance at the King’s wedding. When they are discovered in the ball-room, they are taken for spies and arrested. They are condemned to be hanged, but Faust rescues them in the same way that he had brought them there. They wash their hands in England and dry them in Germany.2. Faust asks a Jewish merchant at the Frankfort Fair to change him some French money into good talers. The merchant promises to call on Faust at his inn and bring him the money, but when he arrives, Faust is lying on a couch, apparently asleep. The Jew puts his bag of talers on the table and shakes Faust by the arm, but cannot rouse him; he becomes annoyed and shakes him violently by the leg, which comes off in his hand. He rushes in terror from the house, leaving behind him cloak and money-bag which are shared by Faust and his servant.3. Faust sells a swineherd in Bamberg some fat pigs, but warns him against driving them into flowing water. On the next day the swineherd neglects the warning and the pigs are turned into bundles of straw. By this time Faust is well on the way to Nuremberg.4. On the evening before he is due to fulfil his pact with the Devil, Faust arrives at a village inn and asks for a room for the night. In the tap-room there is a crowd of drunken, noisy peasants, who refuse to be quiet when Faust asks them. The magician bewitches them so that they remain sitting with their mouths wide open, and he is able to have his last meal in peace. He pays his bill, tips all the servants, and goes to bed, but is persuaded by the host to disenchant the drunken clowns. On the next morning, Faust is found dead in bed.

2. Faust asks a Jewish merchant at the Frankfort Fair to change him some French money into good talers. The merchant promises to call on Faust at his inn and bring him the money, but when he arrives, Faust is lying on a couch, apparently asleep. The Jew puts his bag of talers on the table and shakes Faust by the arm, but cannot rouse him; he becomes annoyed and shakes him violently by the leg, which comes off in his hand. He rushes in terror from the house, leaving behind him cloak and money-bag which are shared by Faust and his servant.

3. Faust sells a swineherd in Bamberg some fat pigs, but warns him against driving them into flowing water. On the next day the swineherd neglects the warning and the pigs are turned into bundles of straw. By this time Faust is well on the way to Nuremberg.

4. On the evening before he is due to fulfil his pact with the Devil, Faust arrives at a village inn and asks for a room for the night. In the tap-room there is a crowd of drunken, noisy peasants, who refuse to be quiet when Faust asks them. The magician bewitches them so that they remain sitting with their mouths wide open, and he is able to have his last meal in peace. He pays his bill, tips all the servants, and goes to bed, but is persuaded by the host to disenchant the drunken clowns. On the next morning, Faust is found dead in bed.

As some of these stories had already been in circulation about other magicians, it is obvious that Faust was already becoming in popular imagination theprototype, and it is possible to see the myth in progress of development. The magician who sold his soul to the Devil was not a new factor in the superstitious fantasy of the people, but it was convenient to father all the floating rumours on some outstanding personality of whom everybody had heard and who had, in the memory of many, boasted in public of his wicked art. It is of interest to note that whereas Bütner declares that it was at Wittenberg, the leading Lutheran University, that Faust conjured up the Greek heroes, this Nuremberg manuscript transfers his teaching activities in philosophy and necromancy to the centre of Catholic doctrine, Ingolstadt. Later on the scene is shifted to Erfurt, the seat of humanism.

The enlarged edition which appeared in 1587, with a different sequence of chapters and eight new ones added, has drawn for its new matter mainly on theDe Praestigiis Daemonumof Wierus and theChristliche Bedenken und Erinnerung von Zaubereiof Augustin Lercheimer, where the anecdotes are related for the most part about other magicians. The title-page of this edition states that it was printed by Spies, but his printer’s ornament is lacking, so the statement is most probably false.

The stories are as follows:—

1. Faust meets a peasant who has lost his horse, and tells him that he has just seen a man riding away on it. The peasant hurries after the supposed thief and there is a gory fight, until he notices that the other man’s horse is a stallion, whereas his own was a gelding.2. Faust meets a priest in Cologne hastening tochurch with his breviary in his hand, and turns the sacred book into a pack of cards.3. Faust enters an inn, where he is refused entertainment, as there is no food in the house. He taps the window with his finger, and says “Bring what you have”; then putting his hand outside the window, he draws in a large dish full of boiled pike and a large can of good Rhine wine.4. A castle in which Faust is living is besieged by the Spanish troops of the Emperor Charles. He shoots fragments from a tree under which a Spanish colonel is sitting, although the latter is not visible from the castle, and catches the Spanish cannon-balls in his hands.5. Faust swallows a servant in an inn, because he fills the glasses too full, and washes the morsel down with a bucket of water. The servant is afterwards discovered in the yard all wet and dripping.6. Faust cuts off a man’s head in an inn, but is prevented from setting it on again by the mysterious influence of one of the spectators; so he causes a lily to grow on the table, from which he slices off the head, and immediately one of the spectators falls decapitated from his seat. Faust then sets the first man’s head on his shoulders again.7. Faust invites some gentlemen to dinner, but when they arrive they find the table empty. Their host bids his spirit fetch food from a neighbouring wedding-party, and after the feast the guests ask him to show them one of his tricks. He causes a vine to grow on the table, with grapes for each of his guests, and tellseach one to pick his own fruit with one hand and put his knife to the stalk with the other, but to be very careful not to cut. He then leaves the room, and when he returns they are all grasping their own noses with one hand and holding their knives in dangerous proximity with the other.8. Faust teaches a chaplain how to remove his beard with arsenic.

2. Faust meets a priest in Cologne hastening tochurch with his breviary in his hand, and turns the sacred book into a pack of cards.

3. Faust enters an inn, where he is refused entertainment, as there is no food in the house. He taps the window with his finger, and says “Bring what you have”; then putting his hand outside the window, he draws in a large dish full of boiled pike and a large can of good Rhine wine.

4. A castle in which Faust is living is besieged by the Spanish troops of the Emperor Charles. He shoots fragments from a tree under which a Spanish colonel is sitting, although the latter is not visible from the castle, and catches the Spanish cannon-balls in his hands.

5. Faust swallows a servant in an inn, because he fills the glasses too full, and washes the morsel down with a bucket of water. The servant is afterwards discovered in the yard all wet and dripping.

6. Faust cuts off a man’s head in an inn, but is prevented from setting it on again by the mysterious influence of one of the spectators; so he causes a lily to grow on the table, from which he slices off the head, and immediately one of the spectators falls decapitated from his seat. Faust then sets the first man’s head on his shoulders again.

7. Faust invites some gentlemen to dinner, but when they arrive they find the table empty. Their host bids his spirit fetch food from a neighbouring wedding-party, and after the feast the guests ask him to show them one of his tricks. He causes a vine to grow on the table, with grapes for each of his guests, and tellseach one to pick his own fruit with one hand and put his knife to the stalk with the other, but to be very careful not to cut. He then leaves the room, and when he returns they are all grasping their own noses with one hand and holding their knives in dangerous proximity with the other.

8. Faust teaches a chaplain how to remove his beard with arsenic.

The edition of 1589 is important, because it contains the six extra “Erfurt Chapters,” which were most probably based on local tradition in that town. Faust is seen here as a lecturer at the University. The following is a summary of these extra chapters:—

Illustration: Faust sits astride the barrel.1. Some students invite Faust to accompany them to the Leipzig Fair, and after they have inspected the town and the University they come to a wine-cellar, where some draymen are endeavouring without success to roll out a huge barrel. Faust mocks their efforts, and they return his jeers with interest, but the owner of the barrel offers to make a present of thecontents to whoever can lift it out. Faust goes into the cellar, sits astride the barrel as though it were a horse and rides out. The host has to keep his promise, and Faust shares the contents with his companions.Illustration: The one-eyed giant Polyphemus.2. Faust was for some years at Erfurt and lectured at the University. On one occasion, when he is lecturing on Homer, the students request him to conjure up the ancient heroes of Greece. He promises to do so at his next lecture, which is consequently very fully attended. The heroes duly appear in their armour—Menelaus, Achilles, Hector, Priam, Alexander, Ulysses, Ajax, Agamemnon and others, followed by the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, with the extremities of a man he is eating still projecting from between his teeth. The spectators are terrified, but Faust laughs and orders the spirits to go away again, which they all do with the exception of Polyphemus, who looks as though he would like to devour one or two of the students. However, he also is persuaded to retire, but the students do not ask Faust to repeat the experiment.3. Faust offers to bring to light the lost comedies of Terence and Plautus, though only for a sufficient length of time to enable them to be copied. The theologians and members of the University council, however, think that there are enough books in existence from which the students can learn Latin, and in any case there is the possibility of the Devil inserting in the newly discovered works all kinds of poison and bad examples, and the disadvantage might outbalance the gain. So Faust is not given the opportunity this time of proving his skill.4. While Faust is in Prague, a friend of his, who is giving a party in Erfurt, desires his presence, and presently there is a knock at the door and Faust is seen to have just alighted from his horse. He says he cannot stay long as he must be back in Prague on the morrow. He gets intoxicated, and asks the guests whether they would not like to try some foreign wines. He thereupon bores four holes in the table and puts plugs into them. Glasses are fetched, Faust draws the plugs and serves each man with the wine he desires. It appears that his horse, who is devouring all the oats in the stable and looking for more, is really Mephostophiles. Early in the morning Faust rides away, and the guests who accompany him to the door see his horse rise with him into the air.5. Faust invites some friends to his lodging, and when they arrive there is neither food nor drink, fire nor smoke. Their host raps on the table with his knife, and a servant comes in. Faust asks, “How swift are you?” and the reply is, “Like an arrow.”“No,” says Faust, “you cannot serve me, go back whence you came.” He raps again, and another servant enters, who tells Faust that he is as swift as the wind. He also is sent away. A third servant is as swift as thought and is accepted by Faust, who orders him to bring food and drink for the feast. The goblets are put on the table empty, but Faust asks each of his guests what kind of wine or beer he would like, holds the goblet out of the window and draws it in again full of the desired liquor.6. A famous Franciscan monk, named Dr. Kling, who was well acquainted with Dr. Martin Luther, endeavours to convert Faustus. But Faust declares it would be dishonourable to go back on his pact with the Devil, which he has signed with his own blood. “The Devil has honourably kept his part of the bargain, therefore I will keep mine.” The monk reports this conversation to the Rector and Council of the University, and Faust is compelled to quit Erfurt.

Illustration: Faust sits astride the barrel.

1. Some students invite Faust to accompany them to the Leipzig Fair, and after they have inspected the town and the University they come to a wine-cellar, where some draymen are endeavouring without success to roll out a huge barrel. Faust mocks their efforts, and they return his jeers with interest, but the owner of the barrel offers to make a present of thecontents to whoever can lift it out. Faust goes into the cellar, sits astride the barrel as though it were a horse and rides out. The host has to keep his promise, and Faust shares the contents with his companions.

Illustration: The one-eyed giant Polyphemus.

2. Faust was for some years at Erfurt and lectured at the University. On one occasion, when he is lecturing on Homer, the students request him to conjure up the ancient heroes of Greece. He promises to do so at his next lecture, which is consequently very fully attended. The heroes duly appear in their armour—Menelaus, Achilles, Hector, Priam, Alexander, Ulysses, Ajax, Agamemnon and others, followed by the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, with the extremities of a man he is eating still projecting from between his teeth. The spectators are terrified, but Faust laughs and orders the spirits to go away again, which they all do with the exception of Polyphemus, who looks as though he would like to devour one or two of the students. However, he also is persuaded to retire, but the students do not ask Faust to repeat the experiment.

3. Faust offers to bring to light the lost comedies of Terence and Plautus, though only for a sufficient length of time to enable them to be copied. The theologians and members of the University council, however, think that there are enough books in existence from which the students can learn Latin, and in any case there is the possibility of the Devil inserting in the newly discovered works all kinds of poison and bad examples, and the disadvantage might outbalance the gain. So Faust is not given the opportunity this time of proving his skill.

4. While Faust is in Prague, a friend of his, who is giving a party in Erfurt, desires his presence, and presently there is a knock at the door and Faust is seen to have just alighted from his horse. He says he cannot stay long as he must be back in Prague on the morrow. He gets intoxicated, and asks the guests whether they would not like to try some foreign wines. He thereupon bores four holes in the table and puts plugs into them. Glasses are fetched, Faust draws the plugs and serves each man with the wine he desires. It appears that his horse, who is devouring all the oats in the stable and looking for more, is really Mephostophiles. Early in the morning Faust rides away, and the guests who accompany him to the door see his horse rise with him into the air.

5. Faust invites some friends to his lodging, and when they arrive there is neither food nor drink, fire nor smoke. Their host raps on the table with his knife, and a servant comes in. Faust asks, “How swift are you?” and the reply is, “Like an arrow.”“No,” says Faust, “you cannot serve me, go back whence you came.” He raps again, and another servant enters, who tells Faust that he is as swift as the wind. He also is sent away. A third servant is as swift as thought and is accepted by Faust, who orders him to bring food and drink for the feast. The goblets are put on the table empty, but Faust asks each of his guests what kind of wine or beer he would like, holds the goblet out of the window and draws it in again full of the desired liquor.

6. A famous Franciscan monk, named Dr. Kling, who was well acquainted with Dr. Martin Luther, endeavours to convert Faustus. But Faust declares it would be dishonourable to go back on his pact with the Devil, which he has signed with his own blood. “The Devil has honourably kept his part of the bargain, therefore I will keep mine.” The monk reports this conversation to the Rector and Council of the University, and Faust is compelled to quit Erfurt.

These stories are also to be found in a seventeenth-century manuscript chronicle of Thuringia and the town of Erfurt, based on an Erfurt Chronicle of the previous century which is now lost. The author of this earlier chronicle appears to have heard the anecdotes, in the year 1556, from a neighbour of the Franciscan monk who tried to convert Faust. The story of how Faust rode the barrel of wine out of the cellar is recorded in two paintings on the wall of Auerbach’s wine-cellar in Leipzig, which bear the date 1525, but are in reality no earlier than the seventeenth century. The wine-cellar itself was not built till 1530.

There were further editions of the Faust book in 1590 and 1592, as well as a rhymed version, which appeared at Tübingen in the winter of 1587-8. It is probably the authors of this book who are referred to in the complaint of the ducal commissioners to the senate of the University of Tübingen, which is recorded in the minutes of the senate on the 15th of April, 1588. The publisher and authors are ordered to be incarcerated for a couple of days, and sternly reprimanded.

In the year 1599 there was published at Hamburg a considerably enlarged edition, of which the end of each chapter was adorned with an edifying commentary, called anErinnerung, or Remonstrance, and it is this version which became the basis of the subsequent editions. The story becomes more anti-Catholic than in the earlier editions, and the anti-papal moral is driven home in eachErinnerung. The editor, Georg Rudolf Widman, has successfully eliminated any element of titanism or poetry which may have been present in the original book, and Faust becomes merely a young man led astray by the Church of Rome. Widman has even been delicate enough to condense the Helena episode to a mere reference in a footnote.

Widman’s version was again subjected to re-arrangement in the year 1674, by the Nuremberg physician Johann Nicolaus Pfitzer, who modified the former polemic against the Catholic Church, and in 1725 Pfitzer’s version was published in abbreviated form by an anonymous editor who called himself aChristlich-Meynender, or Man of Christian Sentiments. This volume is exceedingly slim, but it was sold everywhereand became the popular chap-book. It is important in that it contains the germ of the Gretchen episode in Goethe’s drama. Faust tries to seduce a servant-girl, but she is proof against temptation and he offers to marry her; Lucifer, however, dissuades him and gives him Helena instead.

Footnotes[5]By Gustav Milchsack in the library at Wolfenbüttel, and edited by him inHistoria D. Johannis Fausti des Zauberers[Wolfenbüttel, 1892-7]. Milchsack promised at the time to follow up this publication with a second volume containing the results of his researches, but he has not yet done so, and according to German custom, other scholars have hitherto refrained from trespassing on his preserves, so the problems raised by the discovery of this manuscript have not yet been fully investigated.[6]W. Scherer:Das älteste Faustbuch[Berlin, 1884].[7]Eugen Wolff:Faust und Luther[Halle, 1912].[8]By Wilhelm Meyer, and edited by him inNürnberger Faustgeschichten[Munich, 1895].

Footnotes

[5]By Gustav Milchsack in the library at Wolfenbüttel, and edited by him inHistoria D. Johannis Fausti des Zauberers[Wolfenbüttel, 1892-7]. Milchsack promised at the time to follow up this publication with a second volume containing the results of his researches, but he has not yet done so, and according to German custom, other scholars have hitherto refrained from trespassing on his preserves, so the problems raised by the discovery of this manuscript have not yet been fully investigated.

[6]W. Scherer:Das älteste Faustbuch[Berlin, 1884].

[7]Eugen Wolff:Faust und Luther[Halle, 1912].

[8]By Wilhelm Meyer, and edited by him inNürnberger Faustgeschichten[Munich, 1895].

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