[SHELLEY, MARY]. Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus (Abridged): Penny Popular Novels #49. London: Review of Reviews Office, n.d. [c. 1896/7].
FIRST EDITION THUS. Softcover; paperback; octavo. English text, with a new preface by W.T. Stead, with a significant abridgement down to around 40,000 words (from around 90,000). Condition: FAIR. Front and rear covers detached and chipped, interior toned but otherwise sound. Extremely scarce.
Notes: Representing a somewhat significant entry in the Frankenstein bibliography being the first abridged edition (eighth overall?). Bennett & Curran, in their book Mary Shelley and Her Times, note the Stead introduction but offer no further details on the abridgement. They have the publication date as 1893, this is almost certainly wrong. No copies located in COPAC or WorldCat. One in commerce, sold in 2006. The book is #49 in W.T. Stead's Penny Popular Novels, an important series in its own right. Part of the 'Masterpiece Library'.
