Preface (Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus)

Do not confuse this with the 1831 Introduction by Mary Shelley, first published in that year's revised edition of Frankenstein.

This preface is "signed" as: "Marlow, September 1817." This is sometimes incorrectly viewed as if it had been written by "Marlow" (i.e. as a pseudonym). In fact, this refers to the town of Marlow, in the Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England. After their marriage, in March 1817, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley moved to Marlow, where they lived until March 1818. The preface is sometimes attributed to Mary Shelley, but more commonly attributed to Percy, and she wrote in the 1831 introduction, "As far as I can recollect, it was entirely written by him."