THE HISTORY OF THE
DAMNABLE LIFE and DESERVED DEATH
OF
DOCTOR JOHN FAUSTUS
1592
TOGETHER WITH
THE SECOND REPORT OF FAUSTUS
CONTAINING HIS APPEARANCES AND THE DEEDS
OF WAGNER
1594
Both modernized and edited by
WILLIAM ROSE, M.A., Ph.D.
LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, KING’S COLLEGE
With an Introduction
With 24 Illustrations chiefly from Woodcuts
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
THE MAYFLOWER PRESS, WILLIAM BRENDON AND SONS LTD.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | [1] | |
| I. | The Historical Personage | [3] |
| II. | The German Faust Book | [23] |
| III. | Faust in England | [42] |
| IV. | The Faust Drama in Germany | [48] |
| V. | The Wagner Book | [57] |
| The Historie of Dr. John Faustus | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | Of his Parentage and Birth | [65] |
| II. | How Doctor Faustus began to practise in his Devilish Art, and how he conjured the Devil, making him to appear and meet him on the morrow at his own house | [67] |
| III. | The conference of Doctor Faustus with the Spirit Mephostophiles the morning following at his own house | [70] |
| IV. | The second time of the Spirit’s appearing to Faustus in his house, and of their parley | [72] |
| V. | The third parley between Doctor Faustus and Mephostophiles about a conclusion | [74] |
| VI. | How Doctor Faustus set his blood in a saucer on warm ashes, and writ as followeth | [76] |
| VII. | How Mephostophiles came for his writing, and in what manner he appeared, and his sights he shewed him: and how he caused him to keep a copy of his own writing | [77] |
| VIII. | The manner how Faustus proceeded with his damnable life, and of the diligent service Mephostophiles used towards him | [79] |
| IX. | How Doctor Faustus would have married, and how the Devil had almost killed him for it | [81] |
| X. | Questions put forth by Doctor Faustus unto his Spirit Mephostophiles | [84] |
| XI. | How Doctor Faustus dreamed that he had seen hell in his sleep, and how he questioned with his Spirit of matters as concerning hell, with the Spirit’s answer | [86] |
| XII. | The second question put forth by Doctor Faustus to his Spirit, what Kingdoms there were in hell, how many, and what were their rulers’ names | [87] |
| XIII. | Another question put forth by Doctor Faustus to his Spirit concerning his Lord Lucifer, with the sorrow that Faustus fell afterwards into | [88] |
| XIV. | Another disputation betwixt Doctor Faustus and his Spirit, of the power of the Devil, and of his envy to mankind | [90] |
| XV. | How Doctor Faustus desired again of his Spirit to know the secrets and pains of hell; and whether those damned Devils and their company might ever come into the favour of God again or not? | [92] |
| XVI. | Another question put forth by Doctor Faustus to his Spirit Mephostophiles of his own estate | [98] |
| XVII. | Here followeth the second part of Doctor Faustus his life, and practices, until his end | [100] |
| XVIII. | A question put forth by Doctor Faustus to his Spirit concerning Astronomy | [101] |
| XIX. | How Doctor Faustus fell into despair with himself: for having put forth a question unto his Spirit, they fell at variance, whereupon the whole route of Devils appeared unto him, threatening him sharply | [104] |
| XX. | How Doctor Faustus desired to see hell, and of the manner how he was used therein | [110] |
| XXI. | How Doctor Faustus was carried through the air up to the heavens to see the world, and how the Sky and Planets ruled: after the which he wrote one letter to his friend of the same to Liptzig, how he went about the world in eight days | [115] |
| XXII. | How Doctor Faustus made his journey through the principal and most famous lands in the world | [121] |
| XXIII. | How Faustus had a sight of Paradise | [144] |
| XXIV. | Of a certain Comet that appeared in Germanie, and how Doctor Faustus was desired by certain friends of his to know the meaning thereof | [146] |
| XXV. | A question put forth to Doctor Faustus, concerning the Stars | [147] |
| XXVI. | How Faustus was asked a question concerning the Spirits that vex men | [148] |
| XXVII. | How Doctor Faustus was asked a question concerning the Stars that fall from Heaven | [149] |
| XXVIII. | How Faustus was asked a question as concerning thunder | [149] |
| XXIX. | How the Emperor Carolus Quintus requested of Faustus to see some of his cunning, whereunto he agreed | [150] |
| XXX. | How Doctor Faustus in the sight of the Emperor conjured a pair of Hart’s horns upon a Knight’s head that slept out of a casement | [154] |
| XXXI. | How the above-mentioned Knight went about to be revenged of Doctor Faustus | [155] |
| XXXII. | How three young Dukes being together at Wittenberg to behold the University, requested Faustus to help them at a wish to the town of Menchen in Bavaria, there to see the Duke of Bavaria his son’s wedding | [156] |
| XXXIII. | How Doctor Faustus borrowed money of a Jew, and laid his own leg to pawn for it | [160] |
| XXXIV. | How Doctor Faustus deceived an Horse-courser | [162] |
| XXXV. | How Doctor Faustus ate a load of Hay | [164] |
| XXXVI. | How Doctor Faustus served the twelve Students | [165] |
| XXXVII. | How Faustus served the drunken Clowns | [165] |
| XXXVIII. | How Doctor Faustus sold five Swine for six Dollars apiece | [166] |
| XXXIX. | How Doctor Faustus played a merry jest with the Duke of Anholt in his Court | [167] |
| XL. | How Doctor Faustus through his Charms made a great Castle in presence of the Duke of Anholt | [168] |
| XLI. | How Doctor Faustus with his company visited the Bishop of Saltzburg his Wine-cellar | [171] |
| XLII. | How Doctor Faustus kept his Shrovetide | [172] |
| XLIII. | How Doctor Faustus feasted his guests on the Ash-Wednesday | [174] |
| XLIV. | How Doctor Faustus the day following was feasted of the Students, and of his merry jests with them while he was in their company | [176] |
| XLV. | How Doctor Faustus shewed the fair Helena unto the Students upon the Sunday following | [177] |
| XLVI. | How Doctor Faustus conjured away the four wheels from a clown’s waggon | [180] |
| XLVII. | How four Jugglers cut one another’s head off, and set them on again; and how Doctor Faustus deceived them | [182] |
| XLVIII. | How an old man, the neighbour of Faustus, sought to persuade him to amend his evil life, and to fall unto repentance | [183] |
| XLIX. | How Doctor Faustus wrote the second time with his own blood and gave it to the Devil | [186] |
| L. | How Doctor Faustus made a marriage between two lovers | [188] |
| LI. | How Doctor Faustus led his friends into his Garden at Christmas, and shewed them many strange sights in his nineteenth year | [189] |
| LII. | How Doctor Faustus gathered together a great army of men in his extremity against a Knight that would have injured him on his journey | [190] |
| LIII. | How Doctor Faustus caused Mephostophiles to bring him seven of the fairest women that he could find in all those countries he had travelled in, in the twentieth year | [192] |
| LIV. | How Doctor Faustus found a mass of money when he had consumed twenty-two of his years | [193] |
| LV. | How Doctor Faustus made the Spirit of fair Helena of Greece his own Paramour and bedfellow in his twenty-third year | [193] |
| LVI. | How Doctor Faustus made his Will, in the which he named his servant Wagner to be his heir | [194] |
| LVII. | How Doctor Faustus fell in talk with his servant touching his Testament, and the covenants thereof | [195] |
| LVIII. | How Doctor Faustus having but one month of his appointed time to come, fell to mourning and sorrow with himself for his devilish exercise | [197] |
| LIX. | How Doctor Faustus complained that he should in his lusty time and youthful years die so miserably | [197] |
| LX. | Another complaint of Doctor Faustus | [198] |
| LXI. | How Doctor Faustus bewailed to think on Hell, and of the miserable pains therein provided for him | [199] |
| LXII. | Here followeth the miserable and lamentable end of Doctor Faustus, by the which all Christians may take an example and warning | [201] |
| LXIII. | An Oration of Faustus to the Students | [202] |
| The Second Report of Dr. John Faustus | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | [221] | |
| II. | How certain drunken Dutchmen were abused by their own conceit and self-imagination, of seeing the grand Doctor, Doctor Faustus | [225] |
| III. | Wagner’s conference with Doctor Faustus, and how miserably they broke up their disputations | [229] |
| IV. | Wagner’s cozenage committed upon the sellers of his Master’s goods | [237] |
| V. | The description of Vienna | [238] |
| VI. | A long discourse betwixt the Devil and Wagner, and ended with a good Philosophical repast | [239] |
| VII. | The arrival of the Messenger at Wittenberg, and the description of Wagner | [254] |
| VIII. | The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus seen in the Air, and acted in the presence of a thousand people of Wittenberg. An. 1540 | [256] |
| IX. | [266] | |
| X. | A lamentable history of the death of sundry students of Wittenberg | [273] |
| XI. | [278] | |
| XII. | [280] | |
| XIII. | [280] | |
| XIV. | [282] | |
| XV. | The gifts of Wagner to the Duke, and three Devils retained for Soldiers to the same Prince | [283] |
| XVI. | [285] | |
| XVII. | [286] | |
| XVIII. | The second Mocking | [288] |
| XIX. | The third | [292] |
| XX. | The fourth and last | [293] |
| XXI. | The process to the Combat | [295] |
| XXII. | The Combat | [300] |
| XXIII. | [308] | |
| XXIV. | [310] | |
| XXV. | [311] | |
| XXVI. | [312] | |
| XXVII. | [314] | |
| XXVIII. | [316] | |
| Appendix A: | List of Localities | [321] |
| Appendix B: | A Ballad of Faustus, about 1670 | [323] |
| Appendix C: | Bibliography | [326] |