Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, Later Printing, 1891

Shelley, Mary.  Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1891. 12mo. Rebound in 1/.4 black leather and green marbled boards, with raised bands, gilt stamps, and gilt titles to spine. New marbled endpapers. New matching archival slipcase.

Presented is a later Victorian edition of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of horror, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. This printing was published in London by George Routledge and Sons, in 1891. It is presented here rebound in a striking 1/4 black leather and green marbled boards, with raised bands and gilt stamps and tiles to the spine, new marbled endpages, and a matching green archival slipcase. 

Mary Shelley was just nineteen when she wrote her classic novel. The circumstances of its composition are by now well known. In 1816, Mary was in Switzerland with Percy Shelley, Byron, and Byron’s physician John Polidori when the evening’s discussion turned to one of Shelley’s favorite topics, the supernatural. Byron proposed that all members of the party write a romance or tale on the subject. The resulting efforts were Polidori’s The Vampyre, Byron’s unfinished narrative about a vampire, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. 

The first edition of Frankenstein was published anonymously in London, 1818, and is exceedingly rare. An 1831 edition was published in London, for which Shelley wrote an introduction describing the circumstances surrounding the creation of the work. The first American edition was published in 1833. 

Frankenstein has been named “the most famous English horror novel… a defining model of the Gothic mode of fiction, and… the first genuine science fiction novel, the first significant rendering of the relations between mankind and science through an image of mankind’s dual nature appropriate to an age of science” (Clute and Nicholls, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 1099). 

CONDITION:

Excellent condition. 12mo. Rebound in ¼ black leather and green marbled boards, with raised bands, gilt titles, and gilt stamps to the spine. New marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt, other edges uncut. Interior pages are generally very healthy, with only light scattered staining and toning. 1 pp. publisher’s ads at end. Presented with a new matching archival green slipcase, with an inlaid portrait of Mary Shelley on the front. 

Book Dimensions: 6" H x 4 1/4" W x 1" D. Slipcase Dimensions: 6 1/2" H x 4 1/2" W x 1 1/4" D.