The Faust Bible: The Making of F.W. Murnau's Masterpiece

Hardcover
13 x 10in / 33 x 25.6cm
362pp
979-8-9916580-3-4
October 2026

Orders will begin shipping October 2026

One of the most influential and pioneering silent-era filmmakers, F.W. Murnau was known for his private film sets, reluctant to share the secrets of his mastery of light and shadow. But for his final film shot in Germany before his relocation to Hollywood, Faust (1926), he was gifted a remarkable memento from the production—a collection of photographs and illustrations documenting the making of the film almost step by step, inside a prop Bible. Compiled by key members of the film crew, the astounding visual diary housed approximately 400 original images. 

The Faust Bible: The Making of F.W. Murnau’s Masterpiece recreates, in full, this stunning artifact of film history. Through a vast array of stills and sketches, the audacious skill at the heart of Murnau’s production—innovative practical effects, lavish costuming and set design, detailed storyboarding— is showcased, bringing the film to life on the printed page.

The publication, guided by the Director of Heritage at the Cinémathèque française, Laurent Mannoni, also features newly commissioned essays and annotations by Mannoni himself on the discovery of the Bible and its contents. Accompanying him are Stefan Drössler, Director of the Filmmuseum München, and K.J. Relth-Miller, Director of Film Programs at the Academy Museum, writing on the production history of the film and its lasting legacy in contemporary cinema respectively.

Thanks to the dedicated work of the Cinémathèque française in preserving the original object, held in their archives in Paris, The Faust Bible thrillingly opens up the evocative, mystic world of Murnau’s filmmaking.

The Faust Bible is the second title in the MUBI Editions Projections series, dedicated to the world of film culture and history.