Frankenstein (Edition 1831): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Frankenstein (Edition 1831), credited to Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Frankenstein (Edition 1831) by Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft. Read by Thomas A. Copeland. A mentally unstable genius, Victor Frankenstein, inspired by the dreams of ancient alchemists and empowered by modern science, creates a humanoid but fails to nurture and educate it after it comes to life. It wanders alone into a hostile world, where fear of its size and ugliness subjects it to violence and ostracism, which in time it learns to blame upon its maker. As compensation for its suffering, it demands that he create a companion with whom to share its outcast life. Moved by the creature's account of its sufferings, the scientist agrees, but a long period of procrastination awakens doubts that ultimately cause him to break his promise. In retaliation, the creature begins a campaign of vengeance. Although its serious crimes are limited to those which will wound its maker's heart, Victor imagines much more widespread harm, supposing the human race itself to be the creature's intended victim. There then follows a chase into the frozen north, which the creature prolongs so as to destroy his pursuer by exposure and exhaustion. This story, narrated by Victor, forms a frame surrounding the creature's tale of its wanderings, education, and unhappy encounters with human beings. Victor's narrative is itself framed within a series of letters written by the young mariner who rescues him from an iceberg while engaged in his own ambitious scientific endeavor, searching for the North Pole. This novel was begun while the author and her lover, Percy Shelley, were in hiding from her father and Percy's wife on the shores of Lake Geneva, where they were the frequent house guests of Lord Byron. The young people all began to write "ghost" stories, but only Mary's was destined to enjoy success. The novel was published in 1818. Percy contributed a preface and later made extensive emendations. After his death Mary herself thoroughly revised the text and published it again in 1831. This is the text read in this project. (Summary by Thomas Copeland)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Frankenstein (Edition 1831)
• Author credits: Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 29
• Combined MP3 track duration: 8:44:58

Catalogue topics

• genius
• creature
• experiment
• revenge

Opening tracks: first 24 of 29

1. 00: Intro & Preface — 19:03
2. 01: Letter 1 — 8:00
3. 02: Letter 2 — 8:44
4. 03: Letter 3 — 2:20
5. 04: Letter 4 — 17:32
6. 05: Chapter 01 — 11:55
7. 06: Chapter 02 — 15:27
8. 07: Chapter 03 — 17:38
9. 08: Chapter 04 — 17:37
10. 09: Chapter 05 — 15:16
11. 10: Chapter 06 — 17:47
12. 11: Chapter 07 — 23:28
13. 12: Chapter 08 — 20:33
14. 13: Chapter 09 — 15:51
15. 14: Chapter 10 — 17:08
16. 15: Chapter 11 — 18:43
17. 16: Chapter 12 — 13:55
18. 17: Chapter 13 — 14:04
19. 18: Chapter 14 — 11:39
20. 19: Chapter 15 — 22:10
21. 20: Chapter 16 — 21:47
22. 21: Chapter 17 — 13:33
23. 22: Chapter 18 — 19:41
24. 23: Chapter 19 — 17:32

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.