In the late Middle Ages there lived in Germany a remarkable scholar reputed to have unraveled Nature’s mysteries and to be able to employ his knowledge in wondrous and magical ways. Some regarded him as a skilled alchemist, who had acquired his powers through diligent work: in the laboratory; others said he was only a trickster, who was more a master of sleight-of-hand than of alchemy; but most eventually came to regard him as a conjurer, who had made a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul in return for knowledge and power.
The mysterious scholar was Doctor Johann Faust (c. 1480–c. 1538), and the many legends which grew up about him captured the imaginations of writers, poets, and composers in succeeding generations. Half a century after his death there was published in Germany a book comprising these legends, Historia von Dr. Johann Fausten, by Johann Spiess, which soon appeared also in English and French versions.
Late in the 16th century the English playwright Christopher Marlowe wrote his Tragical History of Doctor Faustus based on these legends. After that countless others took up the Faust theme: the theme of man striving to exceed his ordained bounds, seeking knowledge beyond that allotted to others. ...
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