[Tirage de tête] Goethe / Laurens - Faust - 1885-1885

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von / Laurens Jean-Paul — Faust. Tragedy — Librairie des Bibliophiles — 1885.

This is an original edition of this illustrated version, printed on Whatman paper. It was produced in only 15 copies for this paper, and the edition proves to be very rare.

The work comprises a set of engravings executed by Eugène Champollion after the artist's original compositions.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is one of the greatest poets, playwrights, and thinkers of German and European literature. His monumental drama draws its source from the German popular legend of Doctor Faust while greatly inspired by the philosophical, artistic, and scientific questions that ran through the author’s life. The first part of the work was completed and published at the beginning of the 19th century, embodying several decades of literary maturation.

Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921) was a major French painter and illustrator, an emblematic figure of late 19th-century academic historical painting. Known for his historical rigor and his dramatic, expressive style, he was commissioned to illustrate major classic and historical texts.

The work traces the tragic pact between the scientist Faust, disillusioned by the limits of human knowledge, and the demon Mephistopheles who promises youth and pleasures in exchange for his soul.

The book is housed in its original rigid cardboard slipcase, showing signs of use. The boards are sun-faded.