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Frankenstein

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Frankenstein is a novel by Mary Shelley in which a young scientist makes an intelligent creature from lifeless matter.

Bibliographic notes

Frankenstein was first published anonymously in 1818. Shelley's name first appeared in later editions, beginning in 1821. She published a new version of the story with significant revisions in 1831. Both the 1818 and the 1831 texts remain of interest to scholars. A number of adaptations and analyses of the story, as well as further stories inspired by it, can be found via the subject links below.

See also

Critical and annotated editions

Frankenbook (2018), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, ed. by David H. Guston, Ed Finn, and Jason Scott Robert, contrib. by Charles E. Robinson (illustrated HTML with commentary at frankenbook.org)
Frankenstein (critical edition, based on the 1818 and 1831 editions), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, ed. by Stuart Curran (HTML at Romantic Circles)

Editions published in Shelley's lifetime

These are listed in approximate order of publication.

Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (3 volumes; London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, and Jones, 1818), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- page images at HathiTrust
- from a photo reprint: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
The first edition, published anonymously.
Frankenstein: ou, Le Prométhée Moderne (3 volumes in French; Paris: Correard, 1821), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, trans. by Jules Saladin
A French translation that credits Shelley.
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1831), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, illust. by Theodor Von Holst and Paul Gavarni
- page images at HathiTrust
- transcription of a photo-reprint, without frontispiece: Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML
A significant revision of the originally published text.
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (London: R. Bentley, 1849), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (multiple formats at archive.org)

Other online editions and versions

Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (Boston and Cambridge, Sever, Francis, and Co., 1869), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- page images at HathiTrust
- multiple formats at archive.org
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (Boston and New York: Cornhill Pub. Co., 1922), by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (page images at HathiTrust)

Editions in libraries

Look for editions of this book at your library, or elsewhere.

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