The Publishers of the Standard Novels
Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley began the Standard Novels series as a
way to restore to the public popular works of fiction that were either out
of print or only available in expensive multi-volume formats. A crucial
aspect of their editorial procedure was, where possible, to have the
author revise the novel sufficiently so that a fresh copyright could be
drawn upon the new publication. Given the opportunity, Mary Shelley was
happy to have the chance to polish and, in some cases, expand upon her
earlier production. Unwittingly, however, in assigning the copyright of
her work to the Standard Novels series, she forestalled the novel's
reappearance for a generation, with the consequence that
Frankenstein was not republished in England until the 1860s.
