Publication

Mary Shelley by Richard Rothwell (1840 41) Shelley completed her writing in May 1817, and Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prom etheus was first published on 1 January 1818 by the small London publishing hous e of Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones.[17][18] It was issued anonymou sly, with a preface written for Mary by Percy Bysshe Shelley and with a dedicati on to philosopher William Godwin, her father. It was published in an edition of just 500 copies in three volumes, the standard "triple-decker" format for 19th-c entury first editions. The novel had been previously rejected by Percy Bysshe Sh elley's publisher, Charles Ollier, and by Byron's publisher, John Murray.[citati on needed] The second edition of Frankenstein was published on 11 August 1822 in two volume s (by G. and W. B. Whittaker) following the success of the stage play Presumptio n; or, the Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake;[19] this edition cred ited Mary Shelley as the author. On 31 October 1831, the first "popular" edition in one volume appeared, publishe d by Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley.[20] This edition was heavily revised by Ma ry Shelley, partially because of pressure to make the story more conservative, a nd included a new, longer preface by her, presenting a somewhat embellished vers ion of the genesis of the story. This edition tends to be the one most widely re ad now, although editions containing the original 1818 text are still published. [21] Many scholars prefer the 1818 text, arguing that it preserves the spirit of Shelley's original publication (see Anne K. Mellor's "Choosing a Text of Franke nstein to Teach" in the W.W. Norton Critical edition).