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Transcamster Bog commemorates Mary Shelley and her novel Frankenstein with this stamp issued on January 1, 2018, the bicentenary date of the publication of the first edition of Frankenstein.
Frankenstein, the first modern science fiction novel, was written by 18-year-old Mary Shelley after a ghost story competition with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Dr. John Polidori, and Claire Clairmont at Villa Diodati, near Lake Geneva, in the summer of 1816.
For the contest, the two literary superstars wrote works that are largely forgotten today. Percy Shelley wrote "Fragment of a Ghost Story", an 8-line poem. Byron began writing a vampire story but did not finish it. Claire Clairmont wrote nothing.
However, the remaining two guests, who were literary unknowns whom Percy Shelley and Lord Byron expected would write nothing of lasting value, turned out to make the most famous contributions to literature from the haunted summer at Villa Diodati. Dr. Polidori wrote "The Vampyre", the first modern vampire story, which would influence Bram Stoker's Dracula and other vampire stories.
Mary began writing Frankenstein, the novel that spawned the science fiction genre and countless movies, TV shows, comics, and adaptations in various media.
The stamp depicts the frontispiece of the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, which was revised and corrected by Mary Shelley and is now considered the definitive version of the novel. The picture, drawn by Theodore Von Holst, shows Frankenstein fleeing in horror as his creation comes to life.
The portrait of Mary Shelley is by Richard Rothwell in 1840 and is in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The stamp is imperforate and ungummed (requires glue).
The stamp and its first day cover will be available on eBay after January 16, 2017.
The stamp is imperforate and ungummed (requires glue).
The stamp and its first day cover will be available on eBay after January 16, 2017.
