Retsch - Umrisse zu Goethe's Faust - 1820

Retzsch, Moritz. Outlines to Goethe’s Faust. Drawn by Retzsch. Stuttgart and Tübingen, in J. G. Cotta’s Bookstore, 1820. First edition.

With complete text and all 26 copperplate plates. Quarto. Original paper binding with printed cover title.

Scarce first edition of the famous Retzsch outlines to Goethe’s “Faust,” published by Cotta in 1820. – The plates depict, in a classical linear style, the most important scenes of the first part of “Faust,” from Mephistopheles’ appearance to the cell scene. Retzsch’s illustrations were highly valued by contemporaries and also by Goethe himself, and for decades shaped the visual imagination of the work.

Copy with watermark “M. HARTMANN,” characteristic of the paper technology of Cotta editions around 1820. – The plates complete and printed with strong impression, partly slightly browned and foxed, as is common. The text portion shows more noticeable signs of use, but is clearly legible. The original binding is somewhat rubbed, but overall well preserved.

Complete and in original binding, particularly rare.