“I busied myself to think of a story, — a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name.” Mary Shelley
To see a page of the novel written in Mary Shelley’s hand, click here.
A link to Project Gutenberg’s:
Frankenstein,
or the Modern Prometheus
by
Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley
And to view exhibits on the life and works of Mary Shelley from the Bodleian Library in partnership with the New York Public Library, click right here or on the blue letters under Mary’s portrait.
Lovely post for today. I love the story of Frankenstein in from it’s long history.
Yes! Even the back story is fascinating, almost more so than the novel.
Fabulous exhibition. Love the earlier portraits of Mary.
It makes me think, all this archival treasure… And now everything is digital and there’s no record kept of a novel’s drafts…
True, true. We will never see Ms Lester’s handwritten manuscripts… or will we? Victor Hugo’s Les Mis manuscript was on display in Melbourne; what a mighty one that is…945 handwritten pages.
A haunting and beautiful novel.
I can’t imagine writing a novel BY HAND. Sometimes I look at Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” and It exhausts me to think of the weeks and weeks writing by hand. Not to mention hand cramps…
By hand, two huge notebooks full of brilliance. I can’t remember the last time I even wrote a letter and didn’t tap it into my keyboard…
Interesting. Thank you for sharing.
Delighted!
Wow – kismet! Just watched the extras on the newly re-released box set of “Withnail & I” – and Kevin Jackson mentions that one of the paintings hanging in Withnail’s living room is a portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft. So I looked her up. And now this.