Doctor Faustus

This new edition of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus offers the complete 1604 A-text with embedded selections from the 1616 B-text. Its innovative format will make it easier for readers to note differences between these texts and to consider what is gained and lost in viewing them both separately and together. A full Introduction to the play, notes, and a rich selection of related texts further enhance the value of this edition to students of Renaissance drama, Reformation theology, magic, and occult philosophy.

“This most recent edition of Doctor Faustus is guaranteed to appeal to a fresh, widespread audience of students and scholars. Uniquely combining the full A- and B-texts of the play, the edition offers new possibilities for analysis and interpretation. In addition to a generous introduction, replete with crucial data, the edition supplies readers with a bibliography, notes, and an abundant selection of related texts, including the Faustbook. The range of valuable information will surely attract not only Marlovians and all those interested in Renaissance drama and related, historical contextual matters, but anyone interested in accounting for how Doctor Faustus has achieved its enduring fame.”
—Robert A. Logan, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Hartford

"The decision to embed much of the B-text (1616) into the full A-text (1604) of the play was a creative ‘compromise’ (as Lynch admits) in order to offer students as much of Marlowe’s full intention about the story as possible. The gray highlighting of the incorporated “B” textual material allows the reader access to the later textual material but also does not so intrude that the original “A” text cannot be read independently.... The meshing of the two versions can be very informative especially for teachers of theater and performance/ drama and teachers of writing, as well as for instructors in literature. I can imagine a theater instructor, for example, discussing with students what was/is lost/gained/ changed moving from the 1604 to the 1616 version of the play and how those changes might impact not just the themes but the actual performances of the play. An instructor in writing clearly could do much with the Lynch edition, especially in discussions about revision/ rewrites and the process of play writing."
—June-Ann Greeley, Professor of Languages and Literature, Sacred Heart University 

About the Author:

Stephen J. Lynch is Professor of English, Providence College.