In August 1814, Coleridge was approached by John Murray, Lord Byron's publisher, about the possibility of translating Goethe's classic Faust (1808). Coleridge was regarded by many as the greatest living writer on the demonic and he accepted the commission, only to abandon work on it after six weeks. Until recently, scholars were in agreement that Coleridge never returned to the project, despite Goethe's own belief in the 1820s that he had in fact completed a long translation of the work. In September 2007, Oxford University Press sparked a heated scholarly controversy by publishing an English translation of Goethe's work that purported to be Coleridge's long-lost masterpiece (the text in question first appeared anonymously in 1821).
In August 1814 Coleridge was approached by John Murray Lord Byron's publisher about the possibility of translating Goethe's classic Faust (1808) Coleridge was regarded by many as the greatest living writer on the demonic and he accepted the commission only to abandon work on it after six weeks Until recently scholars were in agreement that Coleridge never returned to the project despite Goethe's own belief in the 1820s that he had in fact completed a long translation of the work In September 2007 Oxford University Press sparked a heated scholarly controversy by publishing an English translation of Goethe's work that purported to be Coleridge's long-lost masterpiece (the text in question first appeared anonymously in 1821)