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June 3, 2016 9:45 PM   Subscribe

Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family [The Bodleian Library] This exhibition is a collaboration between the Bodleian Libraries and the New York Public Library. Few families enjoy such a remarkable reputation for their contribution to the literature and intellectual life of Britain as the Godwins and the Shelleys. Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family explores how the reputation of this great literary family was shaped by the selective release of documents and manuscripts into the public domain. It also provides a fascinating insight into the real lives of a family that was blessed with genius but marred by tragedy.
- Who's Who: Explore the History of the Shelley and Godwin Families. [Interactive family tree.]
- Walk Where Shelley Walked in Oxford Using Our Trail as a Guide. [Shelley in Oxford Walking Trail]
- Frankenstein Notebooks [vol. 1 | vol. 2]
- Diary Entry of First meeting of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin.[13, November 1791]
- Godwin Publishes a Memoir of Mary Wollstonecraft and an Edition of Her Posthumous Works. [Godwin's memoir of Mary Wollstonecraft]
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, Draft of Ozymandias [Probably late 1817]
- Mary Shelley’s Dressing-Case [1837-8]
- Shelley’s Spy Glass [1822?]
- Shelley’s Baby-Rattle [Mid 18th C.]
posted by Fizz (4 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ah, I still want to teach a seminar on that extraordinary family. They'd be considered the first family of English letters if they weren't such anarchists, feminists, atheists, and vegetarians.
posted by doctornemo at 8:43 AM on June 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


In Science and the Modern World, Alfred North Whitehead asserts that science lost a 'Newton among chemists' when Percy Shelley chose to devote himself to poetry instead, but I find it absolutely fascinating how the reputation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein seems to grow (deservedly IMO) with each succeeding generation, to the point now that she looms like a colossus over not only the rest of her family, but the age itself.
posted by jamjam at 9:56 AM on June 4, 2016 [4 favorites]


This is wonderful, thanks!
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:10 AM on June 4, 2016


The Romanticists are probably my second favourite literary group after the Modernists. This time period is filled with such wonderful literature. I've (re)read Frankenstein five times and it is one of those books that seems to change as I mature, something newly discovered with each successive reading. When I first read it in undergrad, I was so focused on the science and technology aspect that I overlooked the internal struggle and humanity of the monster itself. The most recent reading was in my early 30s and I found myself focusing on the monster's intelligence and compassion.
posted by Fizz at 4:16 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]


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