MLR, 105.2, 2010 589 himself and to the Lessing Museum inKamenz (in particular its formerDirector Dieter Fratzke) for sponsoring this important project. Sidney Sussex College H. B. Nisbet Faust: My Soul beDamned for the World. By E. A. Bucchianeri. 2 vols. Bloom ington, IN: AuthorHouse. 2008. 434 pp. (vol. 1); 702 pp. (vol. 11). ?55 (vol. 1); ?85 (vol. 11). ISBN 978-1-4343-9061-5 (vol. 1);978-1-4343-9060-8 (vol. 11). A combined total of 1136 pages in two large-format volumes is sure to provide enterprising readers with a lavish diet of documentary matter, commentary, and conjecture on the Faust tradition from itsmedieval origins to the almost un approachable zenith' which it attained in the year of Goethe's demise (11,665). The first, somewhat thinner, volume is devoted to the chapbook, its sources and influence, the second to Goethe's life and work. In dealing with the origins, the author assumes that the historical Faustus is identical with the individual who matriculated as Georg Helmstetter at Heidelberg University on 9 January 1483 and graduated one year and seven months thereafter.Helmstetter's putative per egrinations are then detailed over some 100 pages and summarized in a tabulated curriculum extending from his birth evidently inHelmstadt near Heidelberg in 1466 or 1467, tohis death in Staufen 'near present day Stuttgart' in or around 1538 (1, 100-03). Turning to the chapbook, Bucchianeri investigates each controversial incident in turn, drawing parallels with historical figures, Dante's Divine Comedy, Arthurian and other latemedieval legends, and citing sources which range from the Bible to Copernican astronomy. An impressively detailed account of theWolfenbuttel manuscript isvitiated by switching from 'WolfenbutteF to 'Wolfenbuttle' and back again, and it soon becomes clear that the author's knowledge ofGerman language and geography is limited,which leads to some curious misapprehensions: Lessing's 17th epistle is described as 'the seventeenth edition of the Literaturbrief (1, 389). This may also explain why more space isdevoted to the London Faustbook of 1593 than to the original Frankfurt edition of 1587. The distinctive quality of Bucchianeri's commentary lies in tireless contextua lization, with each incident in Faust's career related to specific historical events, cultural phenomena, or to background circumstances; thus, Faust's mockery of the Ottoman Sultan is accompanied by a history of Turkish expansion from the fall of Constantinople to theBattle of Lepanto (1,158). In volume 11 key stages ofGoethe's career are graphically recounted with thehelp of over two thousand footnotes, very few ofwhich address controversies of the kind that enliven recent criticism by the likes of Richard Friedenthal, Karl Otto Conrady, and Nicholas Boyle. Instead, it isAlbert Bielschowsky's biography of 1895-1903, accessed via a recent English language reprint, that proves to be the author's preferred source of information. Yet there is no denying the near-boundless enthusiasm with which Bucchianeri approaches even themost recondite passages ofFaust II. Here, an interpretation is offered that has Goethe take issue with the Freemasons, Illuminati, Templars, and 590 Reviews Carbonari, while celebrating, in the final scene, the eventual triumph of theRoman Church. It is suggested that Lessings play would have taken a similarly unpopular approach, which may explain why his manuscript mysteriously disappeared en route to itspublishers (n, 663). There are shades of conspiratorial fiction in these bold assertions, and it is therefore conceivable that fans ofDan Brown's Da Vinci Code will appreciate aspects of this study. The less pedantic among themmay be inclined to overlook such blemishes as the inconsistent spelling of foreign-language terms and proper names, excessive use of exclamation marks, and idiosyncratic punctuation. We get 'Beamarchais' (11,678), 'BoisereV (11,596), 'Wetzslar' (11,677), and even 'Wittenburg' as an occasional variant of4Wittenberg (1,163, 388). Incon sistencies will be found in the same section or paragraph, sometimes even in the same sentence, when we read 'Fehlaer beside 'Fehler (11,391), 'KnebeF alongside 'Kneble' (11,679), 'Sesenheim' beside 'Sesensheim' (11,61, 62), and 'Nuremburg' (1, 101) beside 'Nurnberg (1,99). Striking disfigurements ofGerman titles include cLe gensbegsch desHerrn Gotz von Berlichingen and 'FrankfurterGelehrten Anzeigenin (11,74, 75). A compact bibliography ofEnglish-language criticism is located only involume 1...