Among the rare books on display are the first American edition of Frankenstein (1833) and the third, revised British edition (1831) notable for the first printed image of the Creature created by Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s introduction recounting the composition of the novel.
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851), later Mary Shelley, conceived of her classic Gothic novel in 1816 while visiting Lake Geneva with Lord Byron, John William Polidori, her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, and Mary’s future husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Lord Byron proposed that the group compose ghost stories for fireside amusement. Over time, Mary’s tale evolved into the tragic story of a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who reanimates a corpse. The library’s exhibit includes books written by several of Mary’s fellow travelers, including John Polidori’s seminal work The Vampyre: A Tale.
The early 19th century was a time of dynamic shifts in medical science — developments that no doubt informed the Gothic horror novel. The exhibit includes contemporaneous medical works from the late 18th and early 19th century, such as engravings by two famous anatomists, the brothers John Bell and Sir Charles Bell.
The UT Libraries created this exhibition to help the UT Humanities Center celebrate Frankenreads, a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded initiative honoring the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein.
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