Search the Collection

Mary Shelley

(1797-1851), Novelist

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Regency Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter associated with 3 portraits
The novelist Mary Shelley was deeply influenced by the writings of her parents Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. When only sixteen, she eloped to the Continent with Percy Bysshe Shelley and married him two years later. In 1816, when they were neighbours of Byron, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Mary began Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus (1818) the tale of an idealistic student who discovers the secret of imparting life to inanimate matter. Contrasting scientific discovery with moral responsibility, Frankenstein, for the first time, seriously questioned the human impact of scientific research.

6 Likes voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Make a donation Close

List Thumbnail

Mary Shelley, by Richard Rothwell - NPG 1235

Mary Shelley

by Richard Rothwell
oil on canvas, circa 1831-1840
On display in Room 17 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1235

Mary Shelley; Percy Bysshe Shelley, by George J. Stodart, after a monument by  Henry Weekes - NPG D5956

Mary Shelley; Percy Bysshe Shelley

by George J. Stodart, after a monument by Henry Weekes
stipple engraving, (1853)
NPG D5956

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.