SHELLEY, Mary. PRESUMPTION! Or, The Fate Of Frankenstein. Third Night of New Ballad Opera. Theatre Royal, English Opera House, Strand. August 27th, 1828.

AUTHOR: SHELLEY, Mary. 

TITLE: PRESUMPTION! Or, The Fate Of Frankenstein. Third Night of New Ballad Opera. Theatre Royal, English Opera House, Strand. August 27th, 1828.

PUBLISHER: Strand: Theatre Royal, English Opera House, August 27th, 1828.

DESCRIPTION: Broadside, playbill, printed letterpress, 14-3/16" x 8-1/2", clean and bright, a VERY GOOD playbill of a very early Frankenstein stage production. 

PROVENANCE: Exhibited at the "Hyenas in Petticoats: Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley" exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery London 1998 item #103. Additionally with a full page reproduction in the exhibition catalog on p.133.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Frankenstein was played by a Mr. Baker and the monster by Mr. [Richard John ] O. Smith and Mr. Keeley as Fritz. The playbill goes on to state that "WITH AN ENTIRELY NEW LAST SCENE,...... a schooner in a violent storm! In which FRANKENSTEIN and THE MONSTER are destroyed."

The first stage production of Frankenstein was performed at the English Opera House in 1823. The broadside of the first 1823 version advertised the title as "Presumption, a New Romance" with no mention of Frankenstein. It soon became clear, though, that the name itself was a magic word and a vital part of the story's appeal. All playbills from this period are extremely scarce. We have located only 1 other 1828 "Frankenstein" playbill (not from this theater) offered at auction in 2007.