GOETHE'S FAUST THE FIRST PART THE TEXT, WITH ENGLISH NOTES, ESSAYS, BY E. J. TURNER, M.A. ASSISTANT-MASTER OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE AND E. D. A. MORSHEAD, M.A. ASSISTANT MASTER OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE; LATE FELLOW OF RIVINGTONS WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON MDCCCLXXXII On THIS attempt to facilitate for English readers the study of the masterpiece of German literature has been made under the following circumstances. several occasions during the past few years the First Part of Faust had been selected as a text-book for the German studies of part of the Sixth Form at Winchester. It was felt by those who made the selection that although books of well-chosen extracts might possibly afford a better opportunity for gaining a knowledge of German words, and comedies might be better instruments for acquiring some colloquial acquaintance with the language, yet that neither were so likely to insure the best work of the best boys as a book which they knew to be regarded, and which they would soon come to regard themselves, as a "classic." At our Public Schools German is a "parvenu" as compared with Latin and Greek, nor is it, as yet, like them, a direct means to University distinction; it must, therefore, if it would be recognised as worthy of equal interest and effort, present at least equal attractions with its rivals: they are taught mainly through their masterpieces; and German too must offer of its best if it would aspire to be learned with the same sympathy and thoroughness. The experiment, as tried at Winchester, seems to have justified itself, and it is hoped that the outcome of this teaching of Faust, combined with the considerable additions which have been made in order to bring it into the shape of a book, may be an encouragement and assistance towards the repetition of the experiment at other Public Schools. But the Editors venture to hope that they may be providing for another and a wider want. The interest in German literature, which England owes so largely to Carlyle, shows little sign of flagging; yet it cannot be said that it is altogether easy to satisfy it. Translations, while they increase readers, probably diminish learners; and editions of German classics, with similar help to that afforded so abundantly in the case of the Latin and Greek classics, are still strangely rare and inadequate. Our endeavour has been to supply just such aids to the study of Faust as we should ourselves have been glad to have found existing when our own acquaintance with it began. We do not at all aim to abolish the use of Grammar and Dictionary, still less do we aspire to the exhaustiveness of Düntzer. To insure a certain acceleration of intellectual pace, by providing the help necessary for reading a scene rather than a page, is the utmost to which we aspire in our Notes. We have prefixed short arguments to each scene in order to show the drift of each and their > }) |