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Rare first edition of ‘Frankenstein’ novel breaks world auction record

Chris Well

First edition of Frankenstein sells for record breaking $1.17m

First in a series celebrating the many versions of Frankenstein’s Monster

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1818–Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

It’s crazy to think that one of the most influential and important books in all of western literature was written when the author was still a teenager.

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[VIDEO] Frankenstein: Crash Course Literature

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, published in 1818, is a novel full of grief and longing and the struggle with isolation, as well as the hubris of climbing the ladder of science without regard for morality or the ramifications (and responsibility) of unexpected success, Shelley’s “Frankenstein” has survived 200 years of creative adaptations and intellectual discussions. The version of the monster in the original novel is quite different from what we often see in adaptations—he is articulate, conflicted, and actually looks quite different than we’ve been trained to assume.

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein was written to meet a challenge to “write a ghost story.” When she and a group of friends gathered at a mansion near Lake Geneva in Switzerland--a gathering that included Lord Byron, the poet Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron’s personal physician, John Polidori--inclement weather forced them to spend their holiday indoors.

In fact, 1816 was the “I.” The eruption of Indonesia's Mount Tambora filled the atmosphere with ash, causing freezing temperatures and food shortages all over the northern hemisphere.

As Mary Shelley and the others tried to make do with being stuck indoors, Percy Shelley suggested they have a contest to see who could write the best ghost story.

When Mary Shelley began work on her story, she was only 18 years old.

(Side note: The same contest also led to Polidori's The Vampyre, viewed by many critics as the progenitor of the romantic vampire story. In fact, there are stylistic elements of 1931's Dracula—in particular, the title bloodsucker as a charming aristocrat—that owes more to The Vampyre than to Bram Stoker's novel.)

The novel Frankenstein has endured because it represents so much to so many. A classic of western literature, a rousing story of terror, a Gothic romance, a tragedy—it is also considered one of the first (if not the first) works of science fiction.

In the more than 200 years since its first publication, the legend of Frankenstein has been recounted, remixed, retread, and rebooted into so many formats. The monster of Frankenstein has been adapted in books, films, television, cartoons, comics, audio dramas, stage productions, theme park attractions, and more.

As the themes of the novel continue to resonate into the future, it will no doubt appear in newer and still-to-be invented formats.

First Edition of Frankenstein Breaks Record

A first edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, has set a world record, selling at auction for $1,170,000.

The first edition was one of 500 copies of the novel printed in 1818, and the first to be auctioned since 1985. Christie’s, which described it as “exceptionally rare”, had initially estimated the copy would sell for between $200K and $300K. The auction house said this was a new world auction record for a printed work by a woman, with bidders participating in the auction from around the world.

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