In May 1816, five people spent their evenings on the shores of Lake Geneva. Mary Shelley and her husband, the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and her half-sister, Claire Claremont, writer and physician John Polidori and the legendary John Byron did not know what to do with themselves. One day, Lord Byron offered a bet, which would be won by the one who would write the scariest, most "supernatural" story. The result of this competition was the birth of the demon Frankenstein, the most frightening novel in the history of world literature. No one expected that Mary, who had never written before, would create a character who, many years later, would drive the writer herself crazy.This edition contains a substantially expanded version, which was published in 1831. The story of the creation of "the most monstrous novel" is told in the travel essays of Mary and Percy Shelley, which they wrote during their forced imprisonment in a villa in Switzerland.The edition is illustrated with paintings and engravings of the 19th century.