First published in 1818, Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's groundbreaking masterpiece of scientific ambition, creation, responsibility, and the consequences of pursuing knowledge without wisdom. When Victor Frankenstein succeeds in creating life, he unleashes forces that neither he nor anyone around him can control, creating one of the most influential Gothic novels ever written. This edition features more than 70 original annotations that illuminate Romantic science, medicine, Arctic exploration, classical mythology, literary influences, and the historical and intellectual world that shaped one of literature's greatest masterpieces.