between Schiller's death in 1805 and his own, appeared "Faust,"
"Elective Affinities," his autobiographical "Dichtung und
Wahrheit" ("Poetry and Truth"), his "Italian Journey," much
scientific work, and a series of treatises on German Art.

Though the foregoing enumeration contains but a selection front
the titles of Goethe's best known writings, it suffices to show the
extraordinary fertility and versatility of his genius. Rarely has a
man of letters had so full and varied a life, or been capable of so
many-sided a development. His political and scientific activities,
though dwarfed in the eyes of our generation by his artistic
production, yet showed the adaptability of his talent in the most
diverse directions, and helped to give him that balance of temper
and breadth of vision in which he has been surpassed by no genius
of the ancient or modern world.

The greatest and most representative expression of Goethe's
powers is without doubt to be found in his drama of "Faust"; but
before dealing with Goethe's masterpiece, it is worth while to say
something of the history of the story on which it is founded--the
most famous instance of the old and widespread legend of the man
who sold his soul to the devil. The historical Dr. Faust seems to
have been a self-called philosopher who traveled about Germany
in the first half of the sixteenth century, making money by the
practise of magic, fortune-telling, and pretended cures. He died
mysteriously about 1540, and a legend soon sprang up that the
devil, by whose aid he wrought his wonders, had finally carried
him off. In 1587 a life of him appeared, in which are attributed to
him many marvelous exploits and in which he is held up as an
awful warning against the excessive desire for secular learning and