Victor Frankenstein observing the first stirrings of his creature. Engraving by W. Chevalier after Th. von Holst, 1831.

Mary Shelley described in her novel Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus, how Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, created a living being. The creature lies on the floor, its legs astride a skeleton. In the left foreground, an open book. In the background, electrical and chemical apparatus, and a bookcase on top of which are skulls. An astrological chart is stuck up on a wall. Frankenstein leaves hastily through a door on the right

Frankenstein. "By the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull, yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. ... I rushed out of the room.". Page 43. T. Holst del. W. Chevalier sculp.

London : H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1831.

1 print : engraving, with etching ; image 9.3 x 7.1 cm

Max Browne, The romantic art of Theodor von Holst 1810-1844, London 1994, no. 39, pp. 76-77

R. Woof et al., Hyenas in petticoats: Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, Grasmere 1997, p. 25

Exhibited in “Electricity: The spark of life” at Teylers Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 25 July 2017 – 7 January 2018 UkLW

Wellcome Library no. 40186i