Historia von D. Johann Fausten

E361327

Faust book German literary work chapbook prose narrative

"Historia von D. Johann Fausten" is a 16th-century German chapbook that presents one of the earliest and most influential printed versions of the Faust legend, depicting the life and damnation of the scholar who makes a pact with the devil.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Historia von D. Johann Fausten canonical	4
Fausts Leben, Taten und Höllenfahrt	3
Faust	2
Christopher Marlowe’s "Doctor Faustus" (indirectly via the Faustbuch)	1
Dr. Faust	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3459900 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Historia von D. Johann Fausten
Context triple: [Faust legend, influencedWork, Historia von D. Johann Fausten]

A. Faust legend
The Faust legend is a classic European tale about a scholar who makes a pact with the Devil, trading his soul for knowledge, power, or worldly pleasures, and suffering tragic consequences.
B. Faust, Part One
Faust, Part One is the first part of Goethe’s dramatic masterpiece that retells the Faust legend, exploring themes of ambition, desire, and the quest for meaning through a pact with the devil.
C. Scenes from Goethe’s Faust
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust is a large-scale choral-orchestral work by Robert Schumann that sets key episodes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s dramatic poem "Faust" to music.
D. Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus is a 1947 novel by Thomas Mann that reimagines the Faust legend through the life of a German composer whose pact with the devil allegorically reflects the rise of Nazism and the moral collapse of Germany.
E. Faust, Part Two
Faust, Part Two is the second part of Goethe’s monumental dramatic poem that deepens and concludes the story of Faust through expansive philosophical, political, and metaphysical themes.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Historia von D. Johann Fausten
Target entity description: "Historia von D. Johann Fausten" is a 16th-century German chapbook that presents one of the earliest and most influential printed versions of the Faust legend, depicting the life and damnation of the scholar who makes a pact with the devil.

A. Faust legend
The Faust legend is a classic European tale about a scholar who makes a pact with the Devil, trading his soul for knowledge, power, or worldly pleasures, and suffering tragic consequences.
B. Faust, Part One
Faust, Part One is the first part of Goethe’s dramatic masterpiece that retells the Faust legend, exploring themes of ambition, desire, and the quest for meaning through a pact with the devil.
C. Scenes from Goethe’s Faust
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust is a large-scale choral-orchestral work by Robert Schumann that sets key episodes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s dramatic poem "Faust" to music.
D. Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus is a 1947 novel by Thomas Mann that reimagines the Faust legend through the life of a German composer whose pact with the devil allegorically reflects the rise of Nazism and the moral collapse of Germany.
E. Faust, Part Two
Faust, Part Two is the second part of Goethe’s monumental dramatic poem that deepens and concludes the story of Faust through expansive philosophical, political, and metaphysical themes.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Faust book ⓘ German literary work ⓘ chapbook ⓘ prose narrative ⓘ
approximatePublicationYear	1587 ⓘ
author	anonymous ⓘ
basedOn	folk traditions about Johann Georg Faust ⓘ
circulationForm	cheap print ⓘ popular literature ⓘ
containsMotif	24-year service of the devil ⓘ horrific death of Faust ⓘ signed blood pact ⓘ spectacular magical feats ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Holy Roman Empire ⓘ
didacticPurpose	warning against necromancy ⓘ warning against pride and curiosity ⓘ
genre	Christian moral tale ⓘ chapbook ⓘ legend ⓘ prose fiction ⓘ
historicalContext	Reformation-era Germany ⓘ
influenced	Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus ⓘ linked to: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus German puppet-play Faust tradition ⓘ The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus ⓘ linked to: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus later Faust chapbooks ⓘ subsequent Faust literature ⓘ
laterAdaptations	English Faust Book ⓘ expanded Faustbuch editions ⓘ
literarySignificance	earliest substantial printed Faust narrative ⓘ foundation text of the Faust legend in print ⓘ
literaryTradition	Faust legend ⓘ
mainCharacter	Johann Faust ⓘ Mephistopheles ⓘ linked to: Méphistophélès
mainTheme	Christian morality ⓘ damnation ⓘ hubris of human knowledge ⓘ pact with the devil ⓘ
moralConclusion	Faust’s soul is damned ⓘ
narrativeFocus	Faust’s eventual damnation ⓘ Faust’s pact with the devil ⓘ life of Doctor Faustus ⓘ
originalLanguage	Early New High German ⓘ
placeOfPublication	Augsburg ⓘ Frankfurt am Main ⓘ
publicationCentury	16th century ⓘ
religiousPerspective	Protestant ⓘ
subject	Johann Georg Faust ⓘ linked to: Johann Faust
title	Historia von D. Johann Fausten ⓘ

How these facts were elicited