Faustus and the Promises of the New Science, c. 1580-1730

Having identified the literary origins of the Faustus legend in the German Faust Book (1587) and its English translation (1592), this book argues that these works transformed a simple rogue''s tale into an incisive study of morality and beliefs. The chapbooks'' contrastive portrayal of an imaginary experience of hell and a pseudo-scientific journey through the cosmos is interpreted as an unconvent...