Frankenstein survives in two hands

The surviving manuscript of Frankenstein contains Mary Shelley’s draft and changes in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s hand. His edits range from small wording adjustments to longer suggestions; Mary accepted some and rejected or altered others. The pages turn a vague story of “help” into marks that readers can inspect, compare and count.

Those marks have also fed an old attempt to displace Mary’s authorship. The manuscript does not support it: the draft is overwhelmingly hers, while Percy’s contribution is real and bounded. Collaboration need not erase authorship, and authorship need not pretend isolation. This object shows a young novelist composing, receiving editorial intervention and retaining control of the work that appeared under her name.