Johann Wolfgang von Goethe / Albert Stapfer / Jean-Paul Laurens - Goethe – Faust – Paris 1885 – seltene bibliophile Ausgabe – Stapfers erste französische Übersetzung - 1885

Goethe – Faust – Paris 1885 – rare bibliophile edition – Stapfer’s first French translation in revised version – Jean-Paul Laurens

Rare bibliophile French edition of Goethe's Faust, Paris 1885, with a small documented print run structure, specially revised by Albert Stapfer for his historical first French translation of Faust and engravings after Jean-Paul Laurens.

The original print note contained in the book, “TIRAGE À PETIT NOMBRE,” documents several particularly small privileged editions: 25 copies on papier de Chine fort, 25 on Whatman, and a Grand-Papier edition of a total of only 125 copies – 10 on Japan paper, 15 on Whatman, and 100 on Holland paper.

The present exemplar bears no identifiable copy number and is therefore expressly not assigned to any of the numbered premium editions.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Faust
Paris, 1885
Translation: Albert Stapfer
Foreword: Paul Stapfer
Illustrations: Jean-Paul Laurens
Engravings: Champollion
Printed by J. Jouaust et Sigaux for the Collection des Grandes Publications Artistiques.
227 pages.

A historically significant French translation of Faust

Of particular interest is the “Note de l’Éditeur” contained in the volume.

The publisher explicitly explains therein that the translation used by Albert Stapfer was the first French translation of Faust. It appeared for the first time in 1823. For the present 1885 edition, Stapfer revised his translation again and could take into account the other translations published in the more than sixty years since the original publication.

The publisher also explicitly reasons why, for this representative edition, Stapfer’s translation was chosen instead of the better-known rendering by Gérard de Nerval.

Especially noteworthy is the historical connection to Goethe himself that is subsequently reproduced: the editorial note refers to Goethe’s appreciation of his first French translator and quotes his poetic comparison of his translated drama with flowers plucked from which their original strength and color regain in the water.

For this edition, Paul Stapfer, Professor at the Faculté des lettres de Bordeaux, was also specifically requested to provide a new foreword. In this way, the 1885 edition links the historical first French Faust translation with its later revision by Albert Stapfer and a new literary assessment by Paul Stapfer.

Edition details

The volume includes a portrait of Goethe after May (1779) and six full-page engravings after Jean-Paul Laurens:

* Prologue
* Le Barbet
* La Vision
* Le Jardin
* La Prison
* Épilogue

The original print note also documents the elaborate bibliophile edition structure.

In addition to 25 copies on papier de Chine fort and 25 copies on Whatman paper, a Grand-Papier edition (format Soleil) was issued with:

10 copies on Japan paper,
15 copies on Whatman paper, and
100 copies on Holland paper.

For the Japan copies, the engravings were supplied in three states, while for the Holland and Whatman papers in two states.

Binding and condition

Older bibliophile binding with light spine, gold-embossed monogram and blue-gray marbled covers.

Condition: age-related. Paper partially with foxing or age-related discolorations; binding with corresponding signs of age and wear. The condition is documented extensively in the photographs.

An interesting late-19th-century French Goethe edition that blends literary, translation, and book-arts history: Albert Stapfer’s historical first French Faust translation in a revised version for this edition, the specially written foreword by Paul Stapfer, Laurens’ illustrations, and an unusually detailed bibliophile edition structure.

Private sale: sale from a private collection. The description has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. Age and wear are to be expected in a book published in 1885. All photographs are part of the description.