13 AUGUST 1881, Page 22

" Faust " will soon rival Horace's "Odes," in the

number of editions and translations, which the enthusiasm of students continually send forth. We have before us now Goethe's Faust, Part I. The German text, with English Notes, and Introductory Remarks, by Albert M. Selss, Ph.D. (Longmans.)—Professor Seise deals with considerable severity with the translators who have attempted to render the great poem, accusing them, not so much of cumbrous or inelegant render- ings—a venial fault, considering the extreme difficulty of poetical translation in general, and of the translation of Faust in particular— but of positive ignorance of German.—Of translations, we have to mention, but cannot do more than mention, Faust : a Tragedy, by Goethe, translated into English Verse, with Notes and Preliminary Remarks, by John Stuart Blackie (Macmillan). A second edition, carefully revised and largely rewritten. Faust, from the German of Goethe, by Thomas E. Webb, LL.D. (Dublin : Hodges, Figgis, and Co.), a volume of the "Dublin University Press Series." Faust : a Tragedy, by Goethe, translated, chiefly in blank verse, with Introduc- tion and Notes, by James Adey Birds, B.A. (Longmans.)