约翰·沃尔夫冈·歌德（1749-1832）是欧洲文艺复兴以来最后一位“在思维能力、热情和性格方面，在多才多艺和学识渊博方面的巨人”。他一生著作等身，一部较完备的全集（如“苏菲版”）竟达一百四十三卷，《浮士德》则是他倾注毕生心血写成的、从头到尾共计一万二千一百一十行的一部宏篇巨著。从一七七三到一七七五年他动手写出了《浮士德片思》；一七九七年在席勒的鼓舞下重写《浮士德》。

The Norton Critical Edition of Goethe's master-piece is again based on the distinguished translation of Walter Arndt and includes Parts I and II complete. The "Interpretive Notes" by the editor have been greatly expanded and set in a larger, more readable type.

"Contexts" includes selections from Goethe's correspondence, working plans, and other writings relevant to the evolution of the drama. Excerpts from his conversations with Eckermann concerning the composition of Part II are included. Also included are several illustrations to Part I by Eugene Delacroix and Peter Cornelius, as well as visual sources used by Goethe from Giorgione, Correggio, and Raphael. "Comments by Contemporaries" includes eleven early assessments of Faust, among them--new to the Second Edition--excerpts from Wilhelm yon Humboldt, Henrik Steffens, Thomas Carlyle, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Modern Criticism" has been thoroughly revised to reflect recent developments in Goethe scholarship, especially in the United States. The ten contributors, all new to this edition, are Stuart Atkins, Jaroslav Pelikan, Benjamin Bennett, Franco Moretti, Friedrich A. Kittler, Neil M. Flax, Marc Shell, Jane K. Brown, Hans Rudolf Vaget, and Marshall Berman. Also included is a recent poem by John Hollander, "What the Lovers in the Old Songs Thought."