Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

London: G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1823. Second Edition. Near Fine. Second edition of Mary Shelley's horror masterpiece, and the first to bear the author's name and include her preface in which she briefly mentions the well-documented occasion on which she and her friends "amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands. These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation." Volume II is in contemporary boards, while Volume I is in modern boards and sympathetically bound to match; both volumes are rebacked with new paper spines and title labels. A few marginal tears, light foxing, toning, occasional light damp (truncated) staining and some pencil marginalia. Volume I lacks a final blank; edges rubbed on Volume II. The incredibly scarce second edition of one of the most famous works in English literature; the first was published in 1818. Shelley penned this Gothic sci-fi blockbuster at the tender age of 19 after a literary gathering at Lord Byron's rented vacation manor Villa Diodati near Geneva. Often called the first of its kind, the ever poignant and thought provoking Frankenstein paved the way for science fiction writing. With its themes of loneliness and terror amid human technology gone awry, it continues to resonate deeply within popular culture. (Inventory #: 140946959)