Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the world's most famous Gothic novel and the first work of science fiction, with Frankenstein's monster being a symbol of science gone awry. Shelley's masterpiece has inspired numerous films, plays and other books. This, the 1818 edition, published anonymously, contains the author's original vision. Later revisions, though edited by Mary Shelley, were made more conservative and palatable to nineteenth century readers.