FRANKENSTEIN. A Romantic Drama, In Three Acts.

First editon, the first appearance in print of the very first dramatic adaptation of Frankenstein. Illustrated title vignette. 16pp. Sewn without wrappers. An excellent better than very good copy, the pages with a little toning to the extremities are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps.

The dramatizations of Frankenstein have always played a vital role in the popular dissemination of the story. The play was first performed in 1823 to an enthusiastic audience with Mary Shelley herself in attendance, the immediate success of which brought about a second edition of the novel. Within three years of this first production came fourteen further dramatizations, some more derived than others, but the present adaptation the first of only four that can be found in print. The play was the first to introduce several popular Frankenstein tropes, which has significantly influenced the public's perception of the Frankenstein myth. For instance: the introduction of the laboratory assistant here named Fritz (now commonly known as Igor), who is deployed as a comic foil; the monster never speaks; and finally, the inclusion of the phrase "It lives!" which Frankenstein exclaims after the monster begins to rise. The publisher of the present small pamphlet, John Dicks, issued one play a week from 1864 until 1882, increasing to two a week thereafter, amounting to a total of one thousand printed in the series.