It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200

October 12, 2018 through January 27, 2019

Commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Frankenstein—a classic of world literature and a masterpiece of horror—a new exhibition at the Morgan shows how Mary Shelley created a monster. It traces the origins and impact of her novel, which has been constantly reinterpreted in spinoffs, sequels, mashups, tributes and parodies. Shelley conceived the archetype of the mad scientist, who dares to flout the laws of nature, and devised a creature torn between good and evil. Her monster spoke out against injustice and begged for sympathy while performing acts of shocking violence. In the movies, the monster can be a brute pure and simple, yet he is still an object of compassion and remains a favorite on stage and screen.

For the first time it will be possible to view art and artifacts (including comic books, film posters, publicity stills, and movie memorabilia) that explain how Frankenstein caught the popular imagination in the course of two hundred years. Portions of the original manuscript will be on display along with historic scientific instruments and iconic artwork such as Henry Fuseli’s Nightmare, a six-sheet poster advertising the Boris Karloff movie in 1931, and the definitive portrait of the author. The modern myth of Frankenstein is based on a long cultural tradition, also recounted in the exhibition with a vivid display of books, manuscripts, posters, prints, and paintings.

Explore Mary Shelley’s Annotated Frankenstein online.

Educational resource

Explore the Frankenstein Online Curriculum, a free resource designed for high school teachers in Enlgish Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, History, Theater and Performing Arts.

It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200 is a collaboration between The Morgan Library & Museum and The New York Public Library.

Lead Corporate Sponsor

The exhibition and catalogue are also made possible with lead funding from Katharine J. Rayner, Beatrice Stern, and the William Randolph Hearst Fund for Scholarly Research and Exhibitions, generous support from the Ricciardi Family Exhibition Fund, the Caroline Morgan Macomber Fund, the Franklin Jasper Walls Lecture Fund, Martha J. Fleischman, and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and assistance from The Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation and Robert Dance.

Barry Moser, No Father Had Watched My Infant Days, illustration in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, West Hatfield, Mass.: Pennyroyal Press, 1983. Morgan Library & Museum. The Morgan Library & Museum, PML 127245.6. Photography by Janny Chiu, 2017. © Pennyroyal Press.

Selected Images

Henry Fuseli (1741–1825), The Nightmare, 1781, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Bert Smokler and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleischman /Bridgeman Images.

William Blake (1757–1827), Europe: a Prophecy, London: Printed by Will. Blake, 1794. The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Mrs.Landon K. Thorne, 1972; PML 77235.1.

Joseph Wright (1734–1797), The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher’s Stone, Discovers Phosphorus, and Prays for the Successful Conclusion of his Operation, as was the Custom of the Ancient Chymical Astrologers, 1795, oil on canvas, Derby Museums Trust. Photography by Richard Tailby.

Benoît Pecheux, plate no. 4 in Giovanni Aldini, Essai théorique et expérimental sur le galvanisme, Paris: De l’imprimerie de Fournier Fils, 1804. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2016; PML 196238.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851), Frankenstein, manuscript, MS. Abinger c.56, fols. 20v – 21r, 1816 – 1817. The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

Lyceum Theatre (London, England), This evening, Monday, July 28th, 1823, will be produced (for the first time) an entirely new romance of a peculiar interest, entitled Presumption! or, the Fate of Frankenstein, [London: s.n., 1823]. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2015; PML 196172.

Jean-François Vilain,Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin, Le monstre, acte premier, scène dernière, ca. 1826, color lithograph. Département des Arts du spectacle—Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851), Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1818. The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased by Pierpont Morgan in 1910.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851), Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831. The Morgan Library & Museum; PML 58778.

Nathaniel Whittock (1791–1860) after Thomas Charles Wageman, Mr. T.P. Cooke, of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden, in the character of the monster in the dramatic romance of Frankenstein, between 1832 and 1834, lithograph. The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.

Auguste Pontenier, wood engraving in Louis Figuier, Les merveilles de la science, ou Description populaire des inventions modernes, Paris: Furne, Jouvet et cie, [1867]–1870. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2016; PML 196256.

Carl Laemmle Presents Frankenstein: the Man who Made a Monster, lithograph poster, 1931. Collection of Stephen Fishler, comicconnect.com, Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC, © 1931 Univeral Pictures Company, Inc.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851), Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus, New York: Grosset and Dunlap, [1931]. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2016; PML 196478. Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC, © 1931 Univeral Pictures Company, Inc.

Lynd Ward (1905–1985), The Monster and Victor Frankenstein Encounter Each Other in the Swiss Alps, in a Field of Ice The Newly Created Monster Tries to Get into Victor Frankenstein’s Bed, proof wood engravings for illustrations in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934. Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University Libraries, Permission of Robin Ward Savage and Nanda Weedon Ward.

Dick Briefer (1915–1980), Frankenstein, no. 10, New York: Prize Comics, Nov.-Dec., 1947. From the Collection of Craig Yoe and Clizia Gussoni. © First Classics, Inc. Used with permission granted by Trajectory, Inc.

Bernie Wrightson (1948–2017), Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus. [New York, NY]: Published by Tyrannosaurus Press, 1977. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2017; PML 197644 © 2018 Bernie Wrightson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Barry Moser, No Father Had Watched my Infant Days, wood engraving in a suite of prints accompanying Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, West Hatfield, MA: Pennyroyal Press, 1983. The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Jeffrey P. Dwyer; PML 127245.6 © Pennyroyal Press