Description
The first American edition of Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, published in Philadelphia in 1833.
Octavo, [two volumes], 4pp ads, x, [11]-200pp; [1]-197pp, [24pp ads]. Text is incomplete, with the final leaf of Volume I (p. 201) lacking. Bound with the original drab color boards. Title in black on paper label affixed to muslin cloth spines. Labels are heavily worn, but legible. Includes both half-titles, four pages of publisher’s advertisements at front of Volume I, and twenty-four pages of advertisements at the rear of Volume II.
Both volumes with stable text blocks, notable wear to corners, and soiling to covers. Both volumes are lacking the front and rear endpapers. Period handwriting and scribbles on endpapers and pastedowns. Light archival work to stabilize the front hinge of Volume II. A good set, with noted wear. Features the misspelling of the author’s last name, “Shelly,” on title page of both volumes.
(Glut II. 6) (Lyles B6a) (Pringle 128)
This set includes the ownership inscription of “Mary Ann Taylor,” the earliest known copy of the American edition owned by a female reader.
This edition of Frankenstein is the first appearance of the text in America. It is noted as a “pirated edition” of the 1818 text, originally published by Lackington et. al in London. (Lyles B6a) The 1818 edition was published by an anonymous author, likely accounting for the misspelling of Shelley’s name in the “pirated” first American edition. Printed by G&C Merriam of Springfield, Massachusetts; the only imprint on copyright page.
Later American editions of this text were combined into single-volume format.
Full collation available upon request.
