Ruthven's Attic

Frankenstein

This page was a long time coming. How do I write a page on the most famous novel ever writen. Not just in the "Horror" genre, but all genres of all time. But here I am. How do you exclused a page on the pinnacle of the genre. So, here's my opinion on "Frankenstein". It took me this long to make this page for many reasons. The novel was written so long ago under mysterous circumstances with a history that has become a legend in the genre. I only believe a fraction of the lore. I know the history of the legend of "The Weekend at Diodati" and don't believe almost all of it. Were stories written on that weekend, yes. Were they created on that weekend, I dont think so. They were all works in progress, or unpolished, but not imagened in those 3 days. What I think goes against the legend so I stayed away from it. But, new ideas have come out about "Frankenstein" and its creation into novel form. Things that I always believed thru research, reading Percy Shelley's writings, and reading the original text of Frankenstein. There is too much of Percy in there- stylistically, thematically, and idealistically. Maybe her father, too.

Like Polidori's Vampyre, the story has its beginings in the summer of 1816 when Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori, were staying at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva. There, they were visited by Percy Shelley and his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, and her sister Claire Clairmont. Kept indoors by the "incessant rain" of that "wet, ungenial summer", over three days in June, the five turned to telling fantastical tales, and then writing their own. Fueled by ghost stories such as the Fantasmagoriana, William Beckford's Vathek, and quantities of laudanum, Mary Shelley, in collaboration with Percy Bysshe Shelley, produced what would become Frankenstein.

The question now is, did Mary Shelley write Frankenstein over those 3 days? Did she write alone or at all? Is Percy Shelley the real author of Frankenstein?

London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, 1818. Sold on Heritage in 2024 for just ove 800,000

This edition was published without attribution to the author

If you have read the original version Frankenstien, and also have read any of Percy Shelley's works- Ozymandias- for example, you can see his hand in the prose. Saying that, it doesn't mean that Mary didn't write the rough draft. Then again, Mary was a Feminist. Percy was outspoken and wrote on political issues.

There is an 1821 French edition which is considered the 2nd edition, but I've excluded it here due to it not being in English and that alot of early French editions of books are bootleg edition. Is the French edition a bootleg? I don't know. The French had connections in the British publishing world and published alot of bootleg novels at that time- Polidori's "Vampyre" for example.

2nd Edition G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823

This edition was published with the attribution to Mary Shelley as author

tr>

There are rumors that, before the year 1818 and the first publication of the novel, a rough draft of Frankenstein was being shown to publishers, maybe behind closed doors, by Percy Shelley. True or not, I don't know. But, I'm sure that if it is true, there are collectors out there with letters written by Persy and/or Mary mentioning the idea of Frankenstein. I believe that Mary, or together with Percy, came up with the concept of writing a novel about the resurrection of a dead body. Percy, more interested in politics and partying only had a superficial interest in the concept while Mary was more focused on the subject and the writing of the novel- Percy helping her with the writing and expansion of her ideas. I also believe that Mary's father had a hand in it too. The novel was mostly complete by the time of "The Weekend". Everything was different in 1800. It was not like what we are taught in school. It was a time when the old world of alcdemy, frequency, and enlightenment were becoming meshed with advances in the mechanical. They lived at a time when old knowledge was being used and had unknown powers that were just being pushed into the world. The world was advancing faster then the responsible use and control of this power. Mary's father was very outspoken about these radical advances and the responsibilty that comes with it. Without going on a tangent, research Tartaria to find out the hidden and supressed truth of our past. A past where reanimating a corpse might be possible? As the rumor goes, the novel was going to be published, before 1818, with Percy as the author. Nothing close to the novel of 1818. But after the weekend at Diodati, where Mary worked tirelessly on polishing the novel, Percy agreed to have her as the author. With Mary, working so hard on the novel for several years, publishers pushing for Percy to put his name on it due to his popularity as a writer and them knowing that he did write it, he still gave all the credit to Mary. Even after the release of Frankenstein, the critics and reviewers pressuring him to admit authoring the novel.

He took no credit.

Below is a list of all the known publications in the order of the printing

1. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, 3 vols. (London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, 1818). The first edition.

2. Frankenstein, ou le Promethee moderne, 3 vols., by Mme. Shelly [sic], trans. J[ules] S[aladin] (Paris: Correard, 1821). Translation
into French.
3. Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, 2 vols. (London: Printed for G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1823). A two-volume reprint of the 1818 edition, supervised by William Godwin.

4. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831). Issued as number 9 in the Bentley's Standard Novels series; the text is revised, and includes an introduction and an engraved title page. Reprinted in 1832, 1836, 1839, 1849.

5. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. By Mary W. Shelly [sic]. (Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1833).

6. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (New York: H. G. Daggers, 1845).

7. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Hodgson, [1847]. The Parlour Library. A piracy reprinted in 1856.

8. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Halifax: Milner and Sowerby, 1865).

9. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Milner, n.d. {ca. 1870]). The Cottage Library.

10. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (Boston: Sever, Francis, & Co., 1869).

11. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (London, Glasgow and New York: G. Routledge and Sons, 1882). Reprinted in 1886, 1888.

12. Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (New York: J. W. Lovell, 1882).

13. Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus (New York: George Munro, [1883]). Seaside Library, Vol. 76, No. 1538.

14. Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Dicks, 1884). Dicks' English Library of Standard Works, vol. 3, nos. 18-23.

15. Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus (New York: R. Worthington, 1884).

16. Frankenstein: or, The modern Prometheus (Chicago, New York: Belford, Clarke, 1890).

17. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (London: G. Routledge & Sons, Limited; New York E. P. Dutton, 1891). Reprinted in 1899.

18. Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus (New York: Mershon Company, 1893).

19. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (New York: Home Book Company: [1893]). The Premium Library. Reprinted in 1898(?).

20. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry, 1895).

21. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Gibbings; Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1897).

22. Frankenstein; or, The modern Prometheus (London: Lever Brothers, 1899).

23. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Review of reviews Office, 189?). Penny popular novels: No. 49 of The Masterpiece library.

I have several copies of Frankenstein in my collection, but have collected what was available to pick up. Not seriously going after copies for my collection, where I would have to make large financial investments into getting the very few early editions. That is something for the future.

Below are picture of what I have randomly collected so far. Mostly obtained by being in the right place at the right time.

All the books, except for the 1849 copy, have their original boards. I never put a new set of boards on the 1849 edition because I think shiney new boards would look cheesy on a classic. Since then, Binders have come out with aged board which I'm considering. Or just a slipcase. No boards. Leave it as found.


This is a 3rd edition 5th printing printed in 1849 by Colburn and Bentley


This is the 7th edition undated but printed in 1847 by Hodgson


This is the 10th edition printed in 1869 by Sever Francis


This is the 12th edition printed in 1882 by J.W Lovell

This is a 1932 Illustrated edition by Illustrated Editions Co with artwork by Nino Carbe. This edition edition is very rare with a near fine DJ.

MAIN MENU