All 13339 editions of Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein' (give or take a few)
It's simply unfathomable that Goodreads has listed over 13000 editions of ‘Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley. That works out to 64.7 editions for every year since its publication in 1818.
Now, not all of these editions will be created equally, and sure a large swath of them will no doubt be translations and abridged versions. But it's fascinating to see the longevity and reach this book continues to have.
We featured it on the podcast last week (it's streaming now if you want to listen!) and we could have easily talked about it for days. We've also featured the film ‘Mary Shelley' on our substack-only podcast, which you can access our entire back catalogue once you are a subscriber.
The Dark Academicals SUMMER AV CLUB ‘Mary Shelley'
There are no right or wrong editions, however, there is only one that is THE one. And it's this one:
It has to be an original 1818 text for me. This was how Mary Shelley originally intended it. Further revisions are fine of course, I'm just a traditionalist when it comes to ‘Frankenstein'. There are, however, some stunning editions in terms of presentation and design. There are also some more… interesting takes. I've included as many as I found to pique my interest.
It's not surprising that for the majority of these the focus is on the creature, or the “monster”. If you've read ‘Frankenstein' you know that while the monster is undoubtedly a villain he isn't “the” villain, morally speaking. But from a pop culture POV and a marketing POV it's much more fun to put a recognisable image on the front rather than something more abstract.
I'm not sure how you “make new” at this point, but if I had an ounce of design ability in my body I might try for something more stylised. I'm seeing lots of holographic electricity volts or something. Cos if in doubt, go shiny, eh?
It's one of those stories that was so formative and so pivotal that it will continue to inspire and, quite frankly, it will continue to sell. It is so ingrained in Western pop culture and media that you would be hard pressed to find someone who had not heard of ‘Frankenstein' in some shape or form. Even if it's the more kitschy Universal Montsters version (love, love, love by the way but for wholly different reasons), you will have seen that iconic image somewhere.
I wholeheartedly welcome further editions. Why stop now? Let's at least round it up to a cool 15k.
written by Sarah
