Faust

The famous philosophical drama "Faust", the main work of one of the greatest German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), is printed in this edition in translation by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak. At the end of the edition are several versions of his translations of songs and poems. The book is decorated with illustrations made by the best German artists for the collection of Goethe's works published in 1882, as well as seventeen lithographs by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), which were made by him in 1826 for the translation of "Faust" by Albert Stapfer, published by the publisher Charles Motta.
The tragedy "Faust" is justly considered the most important work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). The great German poet worked on this philosophical drama throughout his creative life. Its second part was published in 1832, after the poet's death. Goethe's "Faust" became one of the most original works of world literature. By stylistic diversity, scale and depth of the raised universal problems of this poem can be compared with Dante's "Divine Comedy". At the same time, Goethe's "Faust" is one of the peaks of German poetry. Therefore, it is not surprising that a few years after the publication of the full text of "Faust" tragedy began to translate into Russian.
The first to undertake this difficult task was the poet Eduard Ivanovich Huber. He worked on the translation for five years, but, not receiving permission to publish it, destroyed the manuscript. Having learned about this, Pushkin actually forced Huber to restore the translation. He helped him with advice, corrected many places and did not accept him if the poet did not bring a new passage of his translation. However, V. Belinsky noted that Huber distorted "Faust", did not understand, did not convey its spirit. "He has the creation of Goethe is not powerful and strong, imbued with life, which winds even in the very sounds of the verses, but relaxed and frail," - wrote the critic in one of his letters.
Later, "Faust" was translated by Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet, who tried to preserve all the poetic dimensions of the original. There is also a translation by Valery Yakovlevich Brusov, in which the influence of symbolism is clearly felt. Worked on "Faust" and other poets. Critics believe that the most accurate corresponds to the original work of Goethe translation made by Nikolai Alexandrovich Kholodkovsky.
However, Boris Leonidovich Pasternak's translation of Faust, published in this edition, is no less interesting. According to many critics, no other Russian translation of Faust can compare with Pasternak's in terms of poetic sound. His text not only reproduces the deep meaning of all the dialogues of the original, but also reveals to the reader all the richness of poetic expression inherent in the original. Pasternak's translation bears the imprint of his personal poetic style, but this is a virtue, not a disadvantage, because the intonation of a talented poet elevates his translation above the colorless work of translators of the XIX century. Some fragments of the text are more accurate in Kholodkovskoto, but Pasternak was better able to convey both the richness and diversity of the stylistics of Faust and the deep unity of Goethe's great work.