 The story became the basis for several notable literary works, including Marlowe's "Tragedy of Doctor Faustus" and Goethe's "Faust".Spies published the book in 1587 in Frankfurt am Main under the title "Historia von D. Johann Fausten".The book is a compendium of anecdotes about a professor of theology and medicine who undertakes the study of sorcery, forms an alliance with the Devil (in the form of a friar named Mephistopheles), and undergoes a series of fantastic adventures.