Which edition of Frankenstein should you read?
Frankenstein was written in English, so there is no translation to choose. There is a different choice: Mary Shelley published the novel in 1818 and revised it for an edition of 1831, and modern editions pick one of the two.
1818 or 1831?
The story is the same in both. Some things that differ, checked against the two texts on Project Gutenberg:
- The introduction. The 1831 edition opens with Mary Shelley’s own introduction, dated London, 15 October 1831, describing the ghost-story contest with Byron, Percy Shelley and John Polidori in which the story began. The 1818 edition has only a short preface.
- Elizabeth. In 1818 she is Victor’s cousin, “the only child of his deceased sister”, sent to the family as a baby. In 1831 she is the orphaned daughter of a Milanese nobleman, taken in by the Frankensteins from a peasant family near Lake Como.
- The chapter numbers. The 1818 title page reads “in three volumes”, and its chapters are numbered within each volume; the 1831 text numbers them straight through. The creature’s plea to Victor on this site’s front page is volume II, chapter II in one and chapter 10 in the other.
Penguin’s 1831 edition prints a collation of the two texts, and Oxford’s 1818 edition lists the 1831 changes in an appendix, if you want every difference.
| Edition | Which text | What comes with it | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin Classics, The 1818 Text | 1818 | Introduction by Charlotte Gordon; chronology and essay by Charles E. Robinson | 288 pp |
| Oxford World’s Classics, The 1818 Text | 1818, with the 1831 changes in an appendix | Nick Groom’s introduction and notes; the 1831 introduction; Percy Shelley on the novel | 304 pp |
| Norton Critical Edition, 3rd ed. | 1818 | J. Paul Hunter’s notes; sources, composition, reception; eleven critical essays | 584 pp |
| The New Annotated Frankenstein | 1818, tracing the 1823 and 1831 revisions | Leslie S. Klinger’s notes, more than 200 illustrations, del Toro’s introduction | Over 400 pp, hardcover |
| MIT Press, Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators | 1818 | Notes and essays on science and the ethics of making things | 320 pp |
| Penguin Classics, ed. Maurice Hindle | 1831 | Hindle’s introduction and notes; a collation of 1818 and 1831; Byron’s “A Fragment” and Polidori’s “The Vampyre” | 352 pp |
| The Original Frankenstein | The draft, before publication | Mary Shelley’s text alone, then again with Percy Shelley’s changes marked | 464 pp |
| Illustrated by Bernie Wrightson | The complete novel (the publisher does not say which text) | About fifty full-page drawings; introductions by Stephen King and by Mary Shelley | 288 pp |
| Read by Dan Stevens | The novel, in full (Audible does not say which text) | One actor reading every voice | Audiobook |
Both texts are free on Project Gutenberg, with no notes: the 1818 edition and the 1831 edition.
Each edition, in more detail
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)
You have never read it, you want the version Mary Shelley first published, and you want a copy you can buy anywhere tonight. the 1818 first-edition text.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Oxford World’s Classics)
You know the novel was revised, and you want to read the first version with the second one listed at the back. the 1818 text, with Nick Groom’s introduction, notes and a chronology of Mary Shelley’s life.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Norton Critical Edition, third edition
You want the novel and the long argument about it in one book, and you will read the essays at the back. the 1818 first edition, introduced and annotated by J. Paul Hunter.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The New Annotated Frankenstein (2017)
You have read it before and want to read it again slowly, with notes on every page and pictures throughout. the full novel. The publisher’s description says it starts from the 1818 text and traces her revisions in the 1823 and 1831 editions.
Buy the hardcover — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Hardcover — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds (2017)
You make things for a living, in a lab or at a keyboard, and you want to read the novel as a story about the person responsible. the 1818 text.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
Frankenstein: the 1831 text (Penguin Classics, ed. Maurice Hindle)
You want the revised novel with Mary Shelley's introduction about the summer she began it, and a way to see what she changed. the 1831 text with all of her revisions, her 1831 introduction, and Percy Shelley’s preface to the first edition.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Original Frankenstein (2009)
You have read the novel and want to see the draft underneath it, and exactly which words were Percy Shelley's. the story, from the earliest surviving draft.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
Frankenstein, illustrated by Bernie Wrightson
You want to read every word of the novel, with a full-page drawing every few pages to look at. the complete text of the novel.
Buy the paperback — Bookshop.org
Other ways to get it: Paperback — Amazon · Ebook — Kobo · Kindle — Amazon
Borrow it free: Borrow on Libby · Find at your library — WorldCat
The Dan Stevens audiobook (2013)
You want the novel itself, read aloud by one actor, on a walk or in the car. the novel, read straight through.
Other ways to get it: Buy or listen on Audible
Borrow it free: The free 1818 text — Project Gutenberg
Common questions
Should I read the 1818 or the 1831 Frankenstein?
They tell the same story. The 1818 text is the novel as first published. The 1831 text is Mary Shelley’s revision, with her introduction about the ghost-story contest at Lake Geneva. Some details change between them — in 1818 Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, in 1831 an orphan the family takes in. If you want both, Oxford’s 1818 edition lists the 1831 changes in an appendix, and Penguin’s 1831 edition collates the two.
Which edition of Frankenstein should I read first?
For a first read, either Penguin Classics edition: The 1818 Text (288 pages, introduction by Charlotte Gordon) or the 1831 text edited by Maurice Hindle (352 pages, with Mary Shelley’s introduction). Both print the complete novel with a short introduction.
What is the difference between the Norton, Oxford and Penguin editions of Frankenstein?
Norton’s Critical Edition (584 pages) prints the 1818 text with sources, material on composition and reception, and eleven critical essays. Oxford World’s Classics (304 pages) prints the 1818 text with Nick Groom’s notes and an appendix of the 1831 changes. Penguin publishes two editions: The 1818 Text, and an 1831 text edited by Maurice Hindle.
Which Frankenstein edition has Mary Shelley’s introduction?
Her introduction was written for the 1831 edition. Penguin’s Hindle edition prints it with the 1831 text; Oxford’s 1818 edition includes it as an appendix; the Wrightson illustrated edition includes an introduction by Mary Shelley alongside Stephen King’s.
Is there an annotated edition of Frankenstein?
Two. The New Annotated Frankenstein, edited by Leslie S. Klinger, is a large illustrated hardcover with notes beside the text and an introduction by Guillermo del Toro. The MIT Press edition, Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds, annotates the 1818 text for readers interested in science and the ethics of invention.
Or see every version — all 30 of them.