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Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley · 1818 · Science Fiction, Horror & Gothic
A young Genevese student, Victor Frankenstein, discovers the secret of life and builds a living man from dead matter - then flees in horror the instant it wakes. Abandoned and reviled, his creature learns to speak and to love, is cast out by all, and turns to a terrible vengeance that destroys everyone Victor holds dear. Told through a sea-captain's letters from the Arctic ice, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the first great work of science fiction and an unmatched meditation on ambition, creation, and the loneliness of the outcast. Complete and richly illustrated.
Inside this edition
Every LitLab edition is illustrated from the text itself — the world of the book mapped, its people drawn, its scenes staged. 36 plates are open to everyone in this book; here are 8 of them.
A map of the journey, from Geneva to the Arctic ice
The World of Frankenstein: creation, family, and revenge
The characters of Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus
The Creature, the Abandoned Creation
The night of creation: Victor and his waking creature
Confrontation on the glacier near Mont Blanc
This edition
- Title
- Frankenstein
- Author
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851)
- First published
- 1818
- Illustrated plates
- 103 original artworks · 36 open to everyone
- Chapters
- 28 · about 75,229 words
- Reading time
- 5 h 1 min
- Language
- EN
- Formats
- Read online · EPUB and PDF download with a subscription
- Publisher
- LitLab — The Illustrated Classics
- On LitLab since
- August 2026
- Rights
- Text in the public domain. Illustrations and edition © LitLab.
- Source text
- Project Gutenberg #84
Neighbours in the library
Chosen by what they share with Frankenstein — the same genre.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeScience Fiction · 1880s
The House on the BorderlandScience Fiction · 1900s
At the Mountains of MadnessScience Fiction · 1930s
The Monk: A RomanceHorror & Gothic · 1790s
The Mysteries of Udolpho - Volume IHorror & Gothic · 1790s
The Mysteries of Udolpho - Volume IIHorror & Gothic · 1790s