Thursday, February 14, 2008

Coleridge's Translation of Goethe's "Faust"

Apparently, Coleridge did indeed translate Goethe's play, and published it anonymously, in 1821. For years scholars had thought Coleridge had washed his hands of trying to translate it, but the evidence is compelling that this anonymous version is indeed the master's. Oxford University Press has just published a new edition, and it sounds as though it is the English translation to own.