SHELLEY, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. (1831 - FIRST PRINTING OF THE THIRD AND THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION)

AUTHOR: SHELLEY, Mary Wollstonecraft - Charles Brockdon Brown.

TITLE: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, Revised, Corrected, and Illustrated with a New Introduction by the Author - BOUND WITH - Charles Brockdon Brown The Sleep Walker. Volume IX of Bentley's Standard Novels series.

PUBLISHER: London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST PRINTING OF THE THIRD AND THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. 1 vol., 6-1/2" x 4-3/8", with the engraved frontis and additional engraved title-page, and a new introduction by Mary Shelley, bound with “The Sleep Walker” as issued but without the Bently letterpress title. Bound in contemporary 1/2 tan calf, ribbed gilt decorated spine, recent gilt lettered black morocco spine label.

CONDITION: Hinges fine, mild toning to frontis and additional engraved title-page, free of the usual foxing, overall internally clean and bright, overall a VERY GOOD copy.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: All first three printings of "Frankenstein" are scarce. The first printing of the third edition (and the first 1 volume edition) contains the first ever attempt to illustrate the Monster. In her introduction, Shelley contextualizes the creation of her tale: "It proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories, translated from the German into French, fell into our hands… 'We will each write a ghost story,' said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to"..... "And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper".