The Mary Shelley Reader [Paperback]

Mary W. Shelley (Author), Betty T. Bennett (Editor), Charles E. Robinson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1990

Renewed interest in the life and works of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley has in recent years generated new biographical studies, complete editions of her letters and short stories, and fresh critical assessments of Frankenstein and her other fiction. Until now, however, there has been no anthology of Shelley's work. The Mary Shelley Reader is a unique new collection that fills this gap. In addition to the original and complete 1818 version of her masterpiece Frankenstein, the book offers a new text of the novella Mathilda--an extraordinary tale of incest, guilt, and atonement that was not published until 1959 and has been out of print since then. Also included are seven short stories that range from gentle satire to fantastic tales of reanimation, diabolical transformation, and immortality. Eight essays and reviews are reprinted here for the first time since their original publication, and eleven representative letters help bring to life a remarkable literary and historical figure--author, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, and wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley. An illuminating introduction, a chronology, explanatory notes, and a bibliography make The Mary Shelley Reader indispensable for readers of English Romantic literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent, well-edited anthology. It fills the need for a selection of Mary Shelley's works."--M. D. Paley, University of California

"Shows students that Mary Shelley wrote more than Frankenstein. She's on her way to becoming a major author, a rival of her own husband."--William R. Evans, Kean College of New Jersey

"Helps see how powerfully Mary Shelley's work takes its place among that of the canonical male Romantics....Tantalizing."--Nineteenth Century Prose

"Probably the single most valuable resource for anyone wishing to explore further in Mary Shelley's life and work... also contains the novel Mathilda (never published in Mary Shelley's lifetime), an interesting selection of stories, essays, reviews and letters, and an extremely valuable chronology and bibliography, from which the present writer benefited enormously."--Threepenny Review

"An excellent collection."--Jeff Cass, Laredo Junior College

"It's exciting to have both Frankenstein and Mathilda in a single volume, well-edited and at a reasonable price....Will be very useful and convenient to have so much source material in one volume."--Byron Nelson, West Virginia University

"An excellent text that has been long overdue."--Sister M. Pacelli, Alvernia College

"Useful introduction and chronology...Good selection of tales, reviews and letters....A good text for a graduate course."--Joanna Milbauer Yin, University of Hawaii

"Indispensable."--William N. Rogers II, San Diego State University

"This reader is long overdue and wonderfully welcome. I'll definitely use it for a number of grad seminars in Romanticism."--Kari Lokke, University of California, Davis

About the Author

Betty T. Bennett is at The American University. Charles E. Robinson is at University of Delaware.

Product Details

• Paperback: 446 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195062590
• ISBN-13: 978-0195062595
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)