The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe. It is a tragedy. Marlowe's source was "The English Faust Book" of 1592. The play was first performed about 1592. It was first published in 1604. It tells of a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for youth, power, knowledge, and wisdom. The play contains the well known line, "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships?" The play was released as a movie in 1967 starring Richard Burton.