title: The New Annotated Frankenstein
author: Mary Shelley
description: A beautifully illustrated hardcover keepsake.<br /> - <strong>Jill Lepore, <em>The New Yorker</em></strong><br /><br />A cornucopia of background information. . . . Teachers will be delighted to have this material in one volume. Students will find the notes illuminating. General readers will be fascinated to uncover the many layers behind the writing of Shelleys novel. . . . Klingers edition allows readers to understand the complexities of the novel as well as the difficulties endured by its author. Only then can one be truly inspired by Mary Shelleys genius and her bravery.<br /> - <strong>Charlotte Gordon, <em>Washington Post</em></strong><br /><br />A gorgeous, compelling, and simply fascinating volume just in time for the 200th anniversary of its source materials publication. Klinger does not presume to add to the comprehensive body of scholarship on Shelleys novel; he wants to illuminate the original text itself and showcase how complex and engaging it wasand still is. . . .The resulting volume will find a huge audience in libraries, from amateur scholars to students to genre fans. Klinger has not only given us a useful reference work but he has also reminded us all just how fun <em>Frankenstein</em> still is to just read.<br /> - <strong>Becky Spratford, <em>Booklist, Starred review</em></strong><br /><br />In annotating Mary Shelley's <em>Frankenstein</em>, Les Klinger has pulled off the nearly impossible trick of making the original novel as interesting as the phenomena (from the many incarnations of the monster to the field of science fiction) which it spawned. A beautifully illustrated compendium of Frankensteinian facts and information.<br /> - <strong>Neil Gaiman</strong><br /><br />With the mind of a mad scientist and the heart of a voluptuary, Leslie S. Klinger has been striding through Sherlock Holmes and masterpieces of Fantastica for years now, illuminating, enlightening, clarifying, and amusing as he went. On the subject of Mary Shelley and <em>Frankenstein</em>, Klinger surrounds and supports the famous novel with a thousand touches of scholarship and wit. He has done us all an immense service.<br /> - <strong>Peter Straub</strong><br /><br />What a marvelous book! Klinger's deep research and knowledge of his subject shines through this entertaining and fascinating insight into Mary Shelley, her life and times, and the themes and vast impact of her earth-shaking novel <em>Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.</em><br /> - <strong>John Landis</strong><br /><br />A stunning one-stop emporium of all things Frankenstein, a standout volume even in the limitless sea of editions of this book.<br /> - <strong>Steve Donoghue, <em>Open Letters Monthly</em></strong>
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  [Acknowledgments](9780062235886_Contents.xhtml#acknowledgments)
  
  
  From the very beginning, everyone I talked to seemed amused and intrigued by
  Mary Shelley’s writing of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the
  darker story of galvanism and the resurrection men that lurked behind the real
  one. Many people I contacted—researchers, scientists, writers, and
  archivists—were more than happy to lend their time and knowledge, and many of
  them had not only heard of, but in some way or another delved into the topics
  themselves.
  
  
  A generous debt of gratitude for conversations on Mary Shelley, galvanism,
  body snatching, and the 1800s goes to Elizabeth Rettleback, Peter McGowren,
  Roger Hall, Erik Midelfort, Radu Florescu, Helen Macdonald, Malcolm Archibald,
  Giuliano Pancaldi, William Eamon, Seamus Perry, Miranda Seymour, Vita
  Fortunati, Graham Allen, Carlo Ginzburg, Adriano Prosperi, Raffaela Simili,
  Graeme Gooday, Anne M. Stiles, Marco Bresadola, Andre Parent, Chris Smith,
  Stanley F