Frankenstein Notebook C1

The virtually reconstituted Notebook C1 below is one of several (probably eleven) small soft-covered notebooks in which the Shelleys prepared fair copy for a three-volume version of Frankenstein to send prospective publishers and, ultimately, the printer. Of British origin, the notebook contained fair copy for the beginning of Volume III, Chapter 5 through a part of Chapter 7, ending in the midst of Victor’s arctic pursuit of the Creature. This portion of the fair copy was written sometime between mid-April and late May 1817, according to Charles E. Robinson’s Frankenstein Chronology.

Notebook C1 was disbound to serve as printer’s copy. It originally consisted of 24 leaves (48 pages) of which 6 leaves are now missing. The remaining 18 leaves now comprise Bodleian MS. Abinger c.58 (formerly designated Dep. 534/2), folios 1r-18v. The bibliographical details of Notebook C1, including paper, watermarks, inserts, and quiring charts, can be found in Charles E. Robinson’s The Frankenstein Notebooks, pp. xlv-xlviii. For the S-GA overview of the composition of Frankenstein, see our Introduction.