Frankenstein items on display for one day only in Scotland

To coincide with its release, the National Library will put various items on display on November 7.

As previously reported by The Herald, the star attraction is a letter from the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, to Sir Walter Scott. In the letter, Shelley corrects Scott for mistakenly assuming that the book was written by her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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Mr Shelley was not known as an author of horror fiction, having once been left "leaning against a mantle-piece, with cold drops of perspiration trickling down his face" having been read part of a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was a key inspiration for Frankenstein, which quotes the poem in chapter five.

In the letter she writes: "Mr Shelley, soon after the publication, took the liberty of sending you a copy but as both he and I thought in a manner which would prevent you from supposing that he was the author we were surprised therefore to see him mentioned in the notice as the probable author.

“I am anxious to prevent your continuing in the mistake of supposing Mr Shelley guilty of a juvenile attempt of mine, to which – from its being written at an early age, I abstained from putting my name - and from respect to those persons from whom I bear it. I have therefore kept it concealed except from a few friends.”

Library curator Dr Kirsty McHugh said: “Frankenstein was published anonymously in January 1818. Percy Shelley sent the book to Scott for review in ‘Blackwood’s Magazine’, and so Scott assumed Percy to be the author. Mary Shelley takes care to be tactful in her letter to Scott, letting him know the identity of the author lest the same error was repeated.”

Also on display will be items from the Library’s archive and printed collections demonstrating the enduring appeal of Frankenstein within the 19th century and beyond, including some of the early reissues of the work as it grew in popularity.

Library curator Ian Scott said: “I don’t think Shelley could have begun to imagine how popular her work would continue to be more than 200 years after its initial publication. The idea of a Frankenstein is firmly embedded in the public consciousness on a global level. Few novels can claim that.

“We have tens of millions of items at the National Library of Scotland, and so it would be safe to assume we have hundreds of items relating to Frankenstein in the collections. We look forward to sharing some highlights with visitors on the day.”