I'm a pretty big stickler on translations, so it's always a joy to see a good one. It's a pity Taylor's translation of Faust Part II is wicked rare, as I'd love to read the rest of the play. I'll probably re-read Part I someday, though, as Walter Kaufmann's translation is almost universally considered the best English version and it would be fun to compare and contrast the two.
Are you saying that a good translation of part II is hard to come by? Really? Who'd have thought it? I mean, in nearly 200 years, I'd have thought more people would have translated it...
I think one of the first translations was done by George Lewes (George Elliot's partner / boyfriend). No idea about more recent translators, though -- but isn't there a Goethe edition covering all his major works published by Princeton University? (And surely that would include Faust II?)
ETA: Looked it up -- for Faust II there's a Yale University edition translated by Martin Greenberg, plus the obvious contenders (Oxford Classics, transl. David Luke, and Penguin Classics, transl. either Philip Wayne or David Constantine). No idea how either of these are, though, and of course neither is a public domain translation.
Sort of. Most of the really good translations of Part II are out of print (Taylor, Wayne) or heavily abridged (Kaufmann). I presume that part of this has to do with the fact that no one likes Part II.
Oxford World Classics do have a full English version of Part II available for relatively cheap, though, and they usually do a fantastic job on their translations. I might check it out some day.
Just to be clear, my original comment was about the rarity of Taylor's translation of Part II, not the general availability of Part II in of itself. I personally find it very important to stick to a single translation when reading multi-part works like this one.
Sorry for butting in! :) The availability of quality English translations of non-English books is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, too. -- The Oxford Classics translation of Faust II seems to be popular enough for them to keep it in print ... but yeah, with multiple-part books it's key to stick to the same translator throughout.
I'm a pretty big stickler on translations, so it's always a joy to see a good one. It's a pity Taylor's translation of Faust Part II is wicked rare, as I'd love to read the rest of the play. I'll probably re-read Part I someday, though, as Walter Kaufmann's translation is almost universally considered the best English version and it would be fun to compare and contrast the two.
ETA: Looked it up -- for Faust II there's a Yale University edition translated by Martin Greenberg, plus the obvious contenders (Oxford Classics, transl. David Luke, and Penguin Classics, transl. either Philip Wayne or David Constantine). No idea how either of these are, though, and of course neither is a public domain translation.
Sort of. Most of the really good translations of Part II are out of print (Taylor, Wayne) or heavily abridged (Kaufmann). I presume that part of this has to do with the fact that no one likes Part II.
Oxford World Classics do have a full English version of Part II available for relatively cheap, though, and they usually do a fantastic job on their translations. I might check it out some day.