Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. By Mrs. Shelley. London, Review of Reviews, n.d. [1896 or 1897]. First Thus. Paperback. A near fine copy. Quite rare. Some tanning to the wraps, a chip to the lower wrapper, 40mm tear to upper wrap and some chipping to the spine, but nice overall. The book is #49 in W.T. Stead’s Penny Popular Novels, an important series in its own right. Part of the ‘Masterpiece Library’.
Bennett & Curran, in their book Mary Shelley and Her Times, note the Stead introduction but offer no further details on the abridgement. They have the publication date as 1893, this is almost certainly wrong. This is the first abridged edition and the eighth overall edition of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” It was printed in London in 1897, the same year as the initial publication of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
T. Stead authored a new preface for this edition, which features a significant abridgment, reducing the word count from approximately 90,000 to about 40,000 words.
There are no traces of this particular edition available on COPAC or WorldCat. The softcover is showing some tanning on the covers, a chip on the lower cover, a 40mm tear on the upper cover, and some chipping along the spine. It is extremely rare in the market, making it a fantastic opportunity for a collector.
