Who wrote the preface to the 1818 edition of Frankenstein?

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote the preface to the 1818 edition of Frankenstein. The novel was published anonymously on 1 January 1818, and Percy’s preface helped present the work and explain its unusual supernatural subject while Mary Shelley remained unnamed as its author.

Mary Shelley wrote the novel, but Percy contributed editorial help and wrote the preface. The distinction matters because later readers sometimes confuse the husband’s contribution with authorship of the book itself. The first edition identified neither Mary nor Percy on its title page, although the preface was Percy’s work and the volume was dedicated to their father, philosopher William Godwin.

The preface also connects the novel to the famous 1816 gathering near Lake Geneva. Lord Byron proposed that the group write ghost stories during the unusually cold “Year Without a Summer.” Mary Shelley developed her idea into Frankenstein, while John Polidori later produced The Vampyre. Mary’s name appeared on a later English edition, and the revised 1831 edition included a new introduction by Mary rather than Percy’s original 1818 preface.