FAUST: My Soul be Damned for the World, Volume 1

You may have heard of the famous legend of Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil, but did you know there was a REAL historical Faust who inspired the growth of the legend and the dramas composed over the years?

Volume I of "Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World" is comprehensive exploration of Dr. Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil, and those who dared to tell his tale.

* Volume I includes: New insights into the life and times of the historical Dr. Faustus, the notorious occultist and charlatan who reputedly declared the devil was his 'brother-in-law'.

* A detailed study of the first Faust books and the popular Faustian folk tales.

* Original discussions on Christopher Marlowe's famous drama and his 'atheistic' rendition of the Faustian myth, including a unique and controversial analysis of the A and B texts. The days of the Faust puppet plays. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's unfinished Faust drama.

All you ever wanted to know about 'Faust' in an enlightening and entertaining format!

Volume One of this series explores the life of the real historical Faust of the 1480s to 1540s, and those who were influenced by his diabolical legend.

Chapter 1 features the biography of Dr. Faustus, insights into his education, the men he impressed, those who despised him, his uncanny ability to predict accurate horoscopes and escape the legal authorities in an age when many were burnt at the stake for witchcraft. There are several new theories proposed: when, where, and why he started his occult career, the possibility he was of royal blood, and the nature of his gruesome death.

Chapter 2 delves into the history of the early Faust books and the folk legends, how they were used as religious texts to teach the new doctrines of the Reformation and to warn the Christian faithful not to dabble in the black arts. New discussions are included demonstrating that the Faust text was used as scientific tracts to anonymously promote new theories in an age when it was blasphemy to support Copernicus’ discovery that the earth circled the sun.

Chapter 3 concentrates exclusively on Marlowe and decrypting his famous Faust drama, demonstrating how he used the legend to display his malcontent with Elizabethan religious politics and express his determination to follow his own controversial beliefs. A new discussion concerning the premiere date of the A and B texts is offered.

In Chapter 4, the rise of the Faust puppet plays is explored, and Lessing’s lost Faust drama presenting the new ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, that the thirst for knowledge may lead to salvation, not damnation, thus preparing the way for Goethe’s monumental classic.