Chronology

1797	29 Mar	Mary Wollstonecraft marries William Godwin in St. Pancras Church, London; Wollstonecraft has one daughter, Fanny (b. May 1794), by Gilbert Imlay. They live at 29, The Polygon, Somers Town.
	30 Aug	Mary Wollstonecraft gives birth to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.
	10 Sep	Mary Wollstonecraft dies from puerperal fever.
1801	21 Dec	William Godwin marries Mary Jane Vial (also known as Clairmont), who has two children: Charles and Jane (later called Claire).
1803	28 Mar	Mary Jane Godwin gives birth to William Godwin, Jr.
1805		William Godwin and Mary Jane Godwin open M. J. Godwin & Co. Juvenile Library.
1807		The Godwin family moves to the headquarters of M. J. Godwin & Co. at 4 Skinner Street, Holborn.
1808		M. J. Godwin & Co. publishes Mounseer Nongtongpaw; or the Discoveries of John Bull on a Trip to Paris, a poem to which MWS contributes.
1812	7 Jun	MWS goes to Dundee, Scotland, to live with the family of William Baxter, a friend of William Godwin. There, she forms her first close friendship with the Baxter's youngest daughter, Isabel.
	10 Nov	MWS and Christy Baxter return to London for a visit.
	11 Nov	MWS possibly meets P. B. Shelley when he and Harriet dine with the Godwins.
1813	3 Jun	MWS and Christy Baxter return to the Baxter's home in Scotland.
1814	30 Mar	MWS returns home to London. Isabel Baxter has become engaged to her former brother in law, 48-year-old David Booth.
	May	MWS and PBS possibly meet for the second time.
	28 Jul	MWS and PBS elope to France, accompanied by Claire Clairmont. William Godwin refuses any communication with his daughter for the next two and a half years.
	Jul-Aug	The three take a six-week tour through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland. While in Paris, they leave behind a box of papers. MWS will later suspect it to contain letters "George Byron" uses to blackmail her in 1845.
	13 Sep	MWS, PBS, and Claire return from Switzerland to London.
	27 Sep	MWS, PBS, and Claire move to 5 Church Terrace, Pancras.
	4 Oct	MWS tries to contact Isabel Booth but is repudiated by David Booth. Possibly concerned over the illegality of his own marriage to his former sister-in-law, he refuses to let his wife see MWS.
	23 Oct-9 Nov	PBS goes into hiding from his creditors; he and MWS live apart during this period.
	9 Nov	MWS, PBS, and Claire move to 2 Nelson Square, Blackfriars Road.
	14 Nov	PBS introduces MWS to his Oxford friend, Thomas Jefferson Hogg. Shelley records in his journal that Hogg is "pleased with Mary."
	30 Nov	Charles Shelley born to PBS and Harriet Shelley, their second child.
1815	1 Jan	T. J. Hogg, with Shelley's encouragement, declares his love to MWS. She reciprocates his affection, but not physically, due to her pregnancy. Shelley and Claire may also be conducting an affair over the next few months.
	10 Jan	MWS, PBS, and Claire move to 4 Hans Place.
	22 Feb	MWS gives birth two months prematurely to daughter, Clara.
	2 Mar	MWS, PBS, and Claire move to 13 Arabella Road, Pimlico.
	6 Mar	MWS's premature daughter Clara dies.
	Jun-Jul	MWS and PBS travel through the south coast of Devonshire.
	[4] Aug	The couple moves to Bishopsgate, near the east entrance to Windsor Great Park.
1816	24 Jan	MWS gives birth to a son, William.
	Apr	Claire becomes Lord Byron's mistress; MWS meets Byron in London.
	3 May	MWS, PBS, their son William, and a pregnant Claire journey to Italy. Claire is pursuing Byron, who left England on 23 April. They are in Paris by 8 May, and arrive at the Hotel de Sécheron, Geneva, on 13 May.
	27 May	PBS meets Byron, who had recently arrived in Switzerland with his physician Dr. John W. Polidori. By June 1, MWS, PBS, Claire, and William move into Maison Chapuis.
	10 Jun	Byron rents the nearby Villa Diodati.
	16-17 Jun	MWS begins to write Frankenstein.
	22-30 Jun	Byron and Shelley undertake a boating tour of Lake Geneva.
	21-27 Jul	MWS, PBS, and Claire travel to Chamounix. MWS's description of this journey, as well as those Shelley made of his previous tour, provides material for Frankenstein.
	24 Jul	MWS's journal entry reads "Write my story"; this is the first extant written reference to Frankenstein.
	29 Aug	MWS, PBS, William, and Claire leave Geneva and return to England, arriving in Portsmouth on 8 September. Over the next few months, MWS and the pregnant Claire remain in Bath, residing at Abbey Churchyard, while Shelley returns to London.
	9 Oct	Fanny Imlay commits suicide by overdosing on laudanum.
	15 Dec	News reaches PBS that Harriet Shelley had committed suicide. She had been missing since 9 November, and her pregnant body was found in the Serpentine river on 10 December.
	30 Dec	MWS and PBS marry at St. Mildred's church, London; in urging this marriage, William Godwin abandons his long silence and reconciles with his daughter. The Shelleys live with the Hunts and the Godwins over the next month.
1817	12 Jan	Claire gives birth to her daughter by Byron. She initially names the child Alba, later changing it to Allegra at Byron's request. Since Claire remains secluded at Bath, she and the Shelleys are able to keep the child's existence a secret from almost everyone else, including the Godwins.
	2 - 8 Mar	The Shelleys live with Peacock in Marlow. On March 18, they move into Albion House, Marlow, where Claire and Allegra join them a week later.
	27 Mar	A Chancery suit denies PBS custody of his and Harriet's two children, Charles and Ianthe.
	14 May	MWS completes Frankenstein
	2 Sep	MWS gives birth to a daughter, Clara Everina.
	[6] Nov	History of a Six Weeks' Tour Through a Part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland: With Letters Descriptive of a Sail round the Lake of Geneva, and of the Glaciers of Chamouni (London: T Hookham, Jun.; and C. and J. Ollier), written by MWS and PBS, is published anonymously.
1818	1 Jan	Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, and Jones) is published in three volumes. Both PBS's publisher, Charles Ollier, and Byron's publisher, John Murray, had declined to publish the novel. Reviews of the novel.
	10 Feb	After selling Albion House at the end of January, the Shelleys and Claire move to 119 Russell Street, London.
	11 Mar	The Shelleys, Claire, Allegra, and two servants leave London for Dover to undertake an Italian journey and arrive in Calais the next day. The party travels through France, staying in Lyons 21-25 March. They then travel to Italy and stay in Milan for three weeks in April.
	28 Apr	Claire sends Allegra to Byron in Venice. Byron, who wishes to avoid Claire, only allows her to visit her daughter if she is accompanied by the Shelleys.
	7 May	The Shelleys travel to Pisa, then to Leghorn on 9 May, where they stay at the Hotel di Malta. In Leghorn, MWS meets Maria Gisborne.
	11 Jun	The Shelleys and Claire move to Casa Bertini, Bagni di Lucca.
	14 Jun	MWS writes Walter Scott, who had favorably reviewed Frankenstein for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine but had conjectured that PBS wrote the book. She thanks him for his review and acknowledges herself as the novel's author.
	17 Aug	PBS and Claire travel to Venice in hopes of persuading Byron to relinquish Allegra. Byron refuses, but, believing MWS and the children to be with them, he permits the Shelleys and Claire to visit the girl at his villa in Este. On 31 August, at PBS's insistence, MWS and her children quickly travel to Este. They arrive on 5 September.
	24 Sep	Clara Everina dies in Venice from dysentery she had contracted during the hurried journey to Este.
	Sep-Oct	The Shelleys and Claire remain at Byron's villa in Este.
	5 Nov	The Shelley party travels through Ferrara, Bologna, and Rome. After a week in Rome, they depart for Naples on 28 November, arriving on 1 December.
	20 Dec	In her journal, MWS enters "Correct Frankenstein," possibly correcting the copy that she presented to Mrs. Thomas, an Englishwoman she met in Genoa, by July 1823.
	27 Dec	An infant, registered on 27 February 1819 as "Elena Adelaide" is born in Naples. PBS and "Marina Padurin" are listed as the parents. The identity of this child is still a mystery. Some theories claim the girl was PBS's illegitimate child; other suggest that she was an infant he planned to adopt in order to replace Clara. The Shelleys leave Naples the next day.
1819	5 Mar	The Shelleys and Claire travel to Rome, moving into the Palazzo Verospi on 7 March.
	7 Jun	William Shelley dies from malaria and is buried in the Protestant Cemetery. The Shelleys leave Rome on 10 June.
	17 Jun	The Shelleys move to Leghorn. On 24 June, they move to Villa Valsolvano, near Montenero.
	Aug - Feb 1820	MWS writes Matilda, which she sends to Godwin in 1821. He does not attempt to get the work published, and it remains unpublished until 1959.
	2 Oct	The Shelleys and Claire move to the Palazzo Marini, Via Valfonda, Florence. Claire leaves for Vienna on 10 November.
	12 Nov	MWS gives birth to a son, Percy Florence.
1820	26 Jan	The Shelleys move to Tre Donzelle, Pisa.
	Mar	MWS begins writing a novel which she calls Castruccio, Prince of Lucca, although she had first concieved of the story's idea in Marlow. Godwin will later change its title to Valperga.
	Apr-May	MWS writes her mythological dramas, Proserpine and Midas.
	Jun	Paolo Foggi, the Shelley's former servant whom they had dismissed in January 1819, and who had married their servant Elise Duvillard, attempts to blackmail PBS over the mysterious Neapolitan child, Elena Adelaide. Although his attempts fail, he and Elise do succeed in turning the Hoppners, friends of Byron and the Shelleys, against the Shelleys by claiming that Elena's parents were PBS and Claire. On 10 June, Elena Adelaide dies.
	Jun-Oct	The Shelleys move back to Bagni di Lucca on 15 June, then relocate to Casa Prinni, at the Bagni San Giuliano, also known as the Bagni di Pisa, on 5 August, and finally to Casa Galetti, Pisa on 29 October.
	21 Oct	PBS's cousin, Thomas Medwin, visits the Shelleys in Pisa.
	Late Nov	The Shelleys meet Emilia Viviani, the beautiful daughter of the governor of Pisa, confined to a convent until her marriage. PBS develops an infatuation and writes Epipsychidion for her.
1821	19 Jan	The Shelleys meet Edward and Jane Williams, a common-law couple, through Medwin. Edward Williams and Medwin had served in the army together in India.
	5 Mar	The Shelleys move to Casa Aulla, Pisa.
	8 May	The Shelleys return to Bagni di San Giuliano. The Williamses move to Pugnano, four miles away.
	Jul	The first translation of Frankenstein is published in France: Frankenstein; ou le Prométhée Moderne (Paris: Corréard), translated by Jules Saladin.
	End of Aug	MWS finishes Valperga. She corrects and copies the novel through early December.
	25 Oct	The Shelleys move to Tre Palazzi di Chiesa, Pisa
	1 Nov	Byron arrives in Pisa with his mistress, Teresa Guiccioli.
1822	Jan	After much wrangling with Ollier for an advance, the Shelleys send MWS's manuscript of Valperga to Godwin for publication, instructing him to keep the revenue from its sales. He delays publication, however, and it does not appear until 1823.
	14 Jan	Edward John Trelawny, a friend of the Williamses and Medwin, and an admirer of PBS and Byron, arrives in Pisa.
	19 Apr	Allegra Byron dies from typhus in a convent school.
	30 Apr	The Shelleys and Claire take a summer residence at Casa Magni, San Terenzo. The Williamses join them on 1 May.
	16 Jun	MWS miscarries and almost dies from the resulting hemorrhaging.
	1 Jul	PBS and Edward Williams sail to Leghorn in Shelley's boat, the Don Juan, to meet the Hunts. On 8 July, they begin their return journey and, sometime during the voyage, drown in the Gulf of Spezia. Their bodies are found ten days later.
	20 July	MWS, Jane Williams, and Claire return to Pisa.
	14 Aug	PBS's body is cremated at Viareggio. Williams' body is cremated the day before.
	Sep	MWS and Jane Williams depart to Casa Negroto, Genoa on 11 September. On 17 September, Jane returns to London with a letter of introduction to Hogg. Claire leaves Pisa on 15 September, going to Florence and then to Vienna.
	Sep-Dec	MWS transcribes cantos 10-12 of Byron's Don Juan. She also begins to transcribe PBS's poetry in preparation for a posthumous collection.
1823	1 Jan	"A Tale of the Passions" appears in the Liberal, II, 289-325.
	21 Jan	PBS's ashes are interred in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome. Attempts to bury PBS's remains with those of his son are thwarted when an adult skeleton is discovered in the child's grave.
	19 Feb	Valperga: Or, the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca (London: G and W.B. Whittaker) is published in three volumes. Reviews of the novel.
	24 Feb	Byron sends MWS a letter from Sir Timothy Shelley, PBS's father, who initially denies MWS support and insists that he will only provide for Percy Florence if MWS relinquishes custody of him.
	[23] Apr	"Madame D'Houtetot" appears in the Liberal, III, 67-83.
	Jul	MWS composes her poem, "The Choice."
	25 Jul	MWS and Percy Florence leaves Genoa for England, arriving on 25 August.
	28 Jul	Presumption; or The Fate of Frankenstein, a play by Richard Brinsley Peake, opens at the English Opera House for a run of 37 performances. MWS sees a production on 28 August.  Reviews of the play.
	30 Jul	"Giovanni Villani" appears in the Liberal, IV, 281-97.
	11 Aug	A second edition of Frankenstein (London: G. and W. B. Whittaker) is published in two volumes. The text is probably corrected by William Godwin, and the title page names "Mary W. Shelley" as the author.
	18 Aug	Frankenstein; or, the Demon of Switzerland, a play by Henry M. Milner, opens at the Royal Coberg Theatre for a run of eight performances.
	1 Sep	Humgumption; or, Dr. Frankenstein and the Hobgoblin of Hoxton, opens at the Royal Coburg Theatre for a run of six performances.
		Presumption and the Blue Demon opens at the Davis's Royal Amphitheater for a run of two performances.
	8 Sep	MWS and Percy Florence move from the Godwin's residence to 14 Speldhurst Street, Brunswick Square. Also in September, she reconciles with Isabel Baxter Booth.
	20 Oct	Another Piece of Presumption, by Richard Brinsley Peake, opens at the Adelphi Theatre for a run of nine performances.
	27 Nov	MWS receives an allowance of £100 per year for Percy Florence from Sir Timothy Shelley.
1824	Jan	"Recollections of Italy" appears in the London Magazine, IX, 21-6.
	Feb	MWS begins writing The Last Man.
	Mar	"On Ghosts" appears in the London Magazine, IX, 253-56.
	Apr	"The Bride of Modern Italy" appears in the London Magazine, IX, 351-63.
	19 Apr	Lord Byron dies in Greece. MWS sends a tribute to the London Magazine, but it is never published.
	Jun	Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley (London: John and Henry L. Hunt), a volume of PBS's unpublished poems, is published. MWS edits the volume and writes a signed preface. On 23 June, MWS learns that a displeased Sir Timothy Shelley will halt Percy Florence's allowance until she both stops publication and promises not to publish any more of PBS's writings in Sir Timothy's lifetime.
	21 Jun	MWS and Percy Florence move to 5 Bartholomew Place, Kentish Town, near Jane Williams.
	Aug	Sir Timothy Shelley increases Percy Florence's allowance to £200.
	13 Dec	Frank-in-Steam; or, The Modern Promise to Pay opens at the Olympic Theatre for a run of four performances.
1825	Jan	MWS begins her friendship with Mary Diana Dods, who writes under the pseudonym "David Lyndsay."
	Feb	MWS probably finished a first draft of The Last Man. By November, 1825, she is copying the manuscript.
	25 Jun	MWS refuses a marriage proposal from American actor, playwright, and manager John Howard Payne.
1826	23 Jan	The Last Man(London: Henry Colburn), "By the Author of Frankenstein," is published in three volumes. Reviews of the novel.  Romantic Circles Electronic Edition of The Last Man (Ed. Steven E. Jones).
	10 Jun	Le Monstre et le magicien, by Jean Toussaint Merle and Antoine Nicolas Beraud, opens in Paris at the Théàtre de la Porte Saint-Martin for a run of 96 performances. A translation by James Kerr opens at the New Royal West London Theatre on 9 October for an estimated run of four performances.
	11 Jun	"Defense of Velluti," a letter that MWS signs "Anglo Italicus," appears in the Examiner, no. 958, 372-41.
	3 Jul	The Man and The Monster; or The Fate of Frankenstein, by Henry M. Milner, opens at the Royal Coberg Theatre for a run of eight performances.
	17 Jul	MWS meets Thomas Moore and agrees to help him compose a biography of Lord Byron. She works on this project off and on over the next few years, and The Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life is published in 1830.
	[5] Aug-3 Sep	MWS spends a month at Brighton with Jane Williams.
	14 Sep	Charles Bysshe Shelley, the son of PBS and Harriet Shelley, dies, making Percy Florence heir apparent to the baronetcy.
	Oct	"The English in Italy," MWS's review of Lord Normanby's The English in Italy, Continental Adventures, a Novel, and Anna Browmwell Jameson's Diary of an Ennuyee, appears in the Westminster Review, VI, 325-41.
	Dec	"A Visit to Brighton," inspired by MWS's August journey, appears in the London Magazine, n.s. VI, 460-66.
1827	Feb	MWS establishes a friendship with Isabel, Julia, and Rosa Robinson during the first of many visits to the Robinson's Park Cottage in Paddington. Isabel Robinson will later "marry" Mary Diana Dods, who assumes the identity of "Sholto Douglas."
	Spring	Jane Williams and Thomas Hogg begin living as a married couple. Afterwards, she calls herself Jane Williams Hogg, even though she is still legally married to her first husband.
	May	Sir Timothy increases Percy Florence's allowance to £250.
	13 Jul	MWS records in her journal her discovery of Jane Williams Hogg's disloyalty. Isabel Robinson had informed MWS of the slanderous stories Jane has been spreading that vilified MWS as a cold, unfeeling wife. MWS does not confront her until 11 February 1828.
	[24] Jul	MWS and Percy Florence join Isabel Robinson and her illegitimate child in Sompting. They relocate to Arundel on 3 September, and Mary Diana Dods, now posing as Sholto Douglas, joins them. With the help of John Howard Payne, MWS assists the Douglases in getting the passports they need to elope to Paris.
	26 Sep	MWS writes in a letter to Godwin that she is writing each morning; the work is presumably The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck. She writes the novel over the next two years, soliciting information from Godwin, John Murray, Prosper Mérimée, Thomas Crofton Croker, and Sir Walter Scott.
	[25] Oct	MWS returns to London and moves into 51 George Street, Portman Square.
1828	25 Mar	Percy Florence enters Edward Slater's Gentlemen's Academy, Church Street, Kensington.
	11 Apr	MWS visits the Douglases in Paris. She contracts smallpox soon after her arrival. During her visit, she meets Prosper Mérimée and General Layfayette.
	26 May	MWS returns to England, remaining in Dover and Hastings through July to recover from her smallpox.
	9 Aug	MWS visits the Robinsons in Park Cottage, Paddington, remaining there throughout most of the year.
	[Nov/Dec]	Two of MWS's stories are published anonymously in the Keepsake for MDCCCXXIX: "The Sisters of Albano" (80-100) and "Ferdinando Eboli: A Tale" (195-218).  E-text for Ferdinando Eboli (from The Last Man Romantic Circles Electronic Edition).
	[24] Dec	MWS moves to 4 Oxford Terrace, Edgewater Road; Claire Clairmont resides with her until April, 1829.
1829	Jan	"Illyrian Poems--Feudal Scenes," MWS's review of Prosper Mérimée's La Guzla, ou Choir de Poesies Illyriques recueillies dans la Dalmatie, la Croatie et l'Herzegowine; and La Jacquerie; Feudal Scenes, followed by the Family of Carvajal, a Drama, is published in the Westminster Review, X, 71-81.
	13 May	MWS moves to 33 Somerset Street, Portman Square.
	1 Jun	Sir Timothy increases Percy Florence's allowance to £300.
	Jul	MWS's review, "Modern Italy," appears in the Westminster Review, II, 127-140.
	Oct	MWS's review, "Loves of the Poets," appears in the Westminster Review, XI, 472-77.
	Nov-Dec	MWS copies and revises Perkin Warbeck.
	[Nov/Dec]	Three stories by "The Author of Frankenstein" appear in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXX: "The Mourner" (71-97), "The Evil Eye" (150-75), and "The False Rhyme" (265-68)  E-texts for The Mourner and The False Rhyme (from The Last Man Romantic Circles Electronic Edition).
	Dec	The Paris Galignani edition of The Poetical Works of Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats, a pirated work edited by Cyrus Redding and including biographical sketches of the poets, is published. MWS had provided Redding with information on PBS earlier that year.
1830	May	MWS's review of William Godwin's Cloudesley appears in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, XXVIII, 711-16.
	13 May	The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, A Romance (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley) is published in three volumes.
	July	MWS and Percy Florence spend two weeks at Southend.
	Oct	A review, believed to be by MWS, of Mérimée's 1572 Chronique du Temps de Charles IX appears in the Westminster Review, XIII, 495-502.
	[Nov/Dec]	Two stories by "The Author of Frankenstein" appear in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXI : "Transformation" (18-39) and "The Swiss Peasant" (121-46). In addition, three poems in this volume have also been attributed to her, although only the first is signed "Mary W. Shelley": "Absence"(22), "Dirge" (85), and "A Night Scene" (147-48).
1831		MWS anonymously edits and arranges publication for Edward Trelawny's memoirs, Adventures of a Younger Son (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley).
	1 Apr	William Godwin's novel Caleb Williams is reissued in a one- volume edition by Colburn and Bentley. MWS writes a biographical sketch, "Memoirs of William Godwin" (iii-xiii).
	31 Oct	The 1831 edition of Frankenstein (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley) is published as part of Bentley's Standard Novels. the title page names "Mary W. Shelley" as the author. This one-volume version includes several revisions, although she claims, in a new Introduction, that they are "confined to such parts as are mere adjuncts to the story, leaving the core and substance of it untouched." E-texts and Hypertexts of the 1831 Edition of Frankenstein.
	[Nov/Dec]	"The Dream," a story by "The Author of Frankenstein," appears in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXII (22-38).
	[Nov/Dec]	Proserpine, a Mythological Drama in Two Acts, which MWS had written in 1820, is published in The Winter's Wreath for 1832 (1-20).
1832	Jan	MWS's review of James Fenimore Cooper's The Bravo appears in the Westminster Review, XVI 180-92. Because the journal refuses to publish her review of Edward Bulwer's Eugene Aram, she stops publishing her work in the Review.
	[15] Jun	MWS and Percy Florence spend three months in Sandgate, where they are joined by Trelawny and his daughter Julia. MWS and Percy Florence return to Somerset Street on 8 October.
	21 Jul-25 Aug	Thomas Medwin publishes his "Memoirs of Shelley" in the Athenæum; several of the installments mention MWS.
	Aug/Sep	"The Pole," a story written by Claire, edited by MWS, and erroneously attributed to "The Author of Frankenstein," appears in the August and September Court Magazine and Belle Assemblée.
	8 Sep	William Godwin, Jr., MWS's half brother, dies of cholera.
	29 Sep	Percy Florence enters boarding school at Harrow.
	[Nov/Dec]	MWS publishes a poem in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXIII : "Stanzas" ("I must forget thy dark eyes' love fraught gaze") (52). The issue also contains two stories by "The Author of Frankenstein": "The Brother and Sister: An Italian Story" (105-41) and "The Invisible Girl" (210-27).
1833		"The Smuggler and His Family," by "Mrs. Shelley" appears in Original Compositions in Prose and Verse(27-53).
	May	MWS moves to Harrow so Percy Florence can become a day-student and reduce the expense of his schooling.
	[Nov/Dec]	"The Mortal Immortal," by "The Author of Frankenstein," appears in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXIV (71-87).  Hypertext of The Mortal Immortal (Romantic Circles Electronic Edition)
1834	[Jan]	Edward Moxon writes MWS to propose an edition of PBS's works. She responds on 22 January that when "family reasons" no longer hinder her, she plans to republish her late husband's poems, along with some letters and prose. She also states that she would not write a biographical sketch of PBS, but might wish to select a person to do so.
	Apr	The printer misplaces thirty-six pages from Volume 3 of Lodore. MWS works into early June rewriting them.
	[Nov/Dec]	"The Trial of Love," by "The Author of Frankenstein," appears in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXV (70-86).
		"The Elder Son," by "Mrs. Shelley," appears in Heath's Book of Beauty. 1835 (83-123).
1835	Feb	Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, Vol 1 (of 3) (London: Longman, Orme, Brown [etc.]), is published as part of The Cabinet of Biography, Conducted by the Rev. Dionysius Lardner.
	7 Apr	Lodore (London: Richard Bentley) is published in three volumes and attributed to "The Author of 'Frankenstein.'"
	[Oct]	Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, Vol 2 (London: Longman, Orme, Brown [etc.]) is published.
	[8] Nov	MWS writes about Falkner to Maria Gisborne.
1836	4 Feb	Jane Williams Hogg gives birth to a daughter, Prudentia Sarah Hogg; MWS will become the godmother.
	[23] Mar	MWS removes Percy Florence from Harrow, employs a private tutor, and moves with her son to 14 North Bank, Regent's Park.
	7 Apr	William Godwin dies and is buried on 14 April in the St. Pancras churchyard, close to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. In his will, he leaves his manuscripts and letters to MWS with the request that she chose those worthy to print and destroy the rest. The proceeds of any publications are to benefit Mrs. Godwin.
	19 Jul	Henry Colburn agrees to pay Mary Jane Godwin 350 guineas for Godwin's memoirs; MWS begins work on the project, which she never completes. Mrs. Godwin also received £50 from the Royal Literary Fund and, thanks to MWS's appeal to Lord Melbourne, £300 from the Royal Bounty Fund.
	[10] Oct	MWS travels to Brighton to convalesce from a recurring malady.
	[Nov/Dec]	"The Parvenue" by "Mrs. Shelley" appears in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXVII (209-11).
1837	2 Feb	MWS returns to London.
	Feb	Falkner. A Novel (London: Saunders and Otley) is published in three volumes; the title page attributes the novel to "The Author of 'Frankenstein;' 'The Last Man,' &c."
	Mar	MWS moves to 24 South Audley Street.
	[Sep/Oct]	Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain and Portugal, Vol 3 (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, [etc]) is published.
	10 Oct	Percy Florence enters Trinity College, Cambridge.
	[Nov]	MWS moves to 41d Park Street, Grovenor Square.
	[Nov/Dec]	"The Pilgrims" appears in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXIX (128-55).
1838	[Jul]	Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France, Vol 1 (of 2) (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, [etc.]) of The Cabinet of Biography, Conducted by the Rev. Dionysius Lardner is published.
	Aug	Sir Timothy Shelley permits MWS to publish Shelley's poems, provided that the works contain no memoirs of his son. MWS gets around this restriction by writing biographical notes for the poems.
	[Nov/Dec]	MWS publishes two poems in The Keepsake for MDCCCXXXIX: "Stanzas" ("How like a star you rose upon my life") (179) and "Stanzas" ("O come to me in dreams, my love!") (201). The issue also contains a story: "Euphrasia: A Tale of Greece" by "Mrs. Shelley" (135-52).
1839	Jan-May	MWS's four-volume edition of Poetical Words of Percy Bysshe Shelley (London: Edward Moxon), with her preface and notes, is published; she dedicates the edition to Percy Florence.
	[Mar]	MWS undergoes a period of severe illness, possibly brought about by the strain of editing PBS's poems. She is frequently ill for the last 10 years of her life.
	[18] Mar	MWS moves to Layton House, Putney.
	[1] Aug	Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France, Vol 2 (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, [etc.]) is published.
	Nov	MWS's one volume edition of Poetical Words of Percy Bysshe Shelley (London: Edward Moxon) is published.
	Dec	MWS's edition of Percy Shelley's Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and Fragments (London: Edward Moxon) is published in two volumes.
1840	25 Mar	MWS moves to 3 The Rise, Richmond.
	[5] Jun	MWS, Percy Florence, and his friends tour the Continent, arriving in Paris on 22 June. The group travels through Germany and Switzerland, spends July and August in Cadenabbia, and then proceeeds to Milan, arriving on 11 September. Percy leaves for England with his friends a week later, and MWS continues to Paris, arriving on 10 October and remaining until the end of the year.
1841	[11] Jan	MWS moves to 84 Park Street, London.
	Feb	Percy Florence graduates from Trinity College, Cambridge. Sir Timothy increases his allowance to £400.
	[17] May	MWS moves to 35 Half Moon Street.
	17 Jun	Mary Jane Godwin dies.
1842	Jun - 30 Aug, 1843	MWS, Percy Florence, and friends tour the Continent again, this time visiting Kissingen, Berlin, Dresden, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Paris.
	Jul-Aug	MWS visits Claire in Paris, where Claire introduces her to a group of Italian exiled revolutionaries, including Ferdinando Luigi Gatteschi.
1843	Sep	MWS moves to White Cottage, Putney.
1844	24 Apr	Sir Timothy Shelley dies; Percy Florence inherits the estate and title.
	Jul	Rambles in Germany and Italy in 1840, 1842, and 1843 (London: Edward Moxon) is published in two volumes.
1845	Sep	Ferdinando Gatteschi, whom MWS had aided financially and whose writing she had encouraged, attempts to blackmail her with her letters to him. Through the help of Percy Florence's friend Alexander Knox, the Italian police destroy the letters on 11 October.
	Oct	George "Byron," an unknown correspondent who claimed to be Byron's son, offers to sell MWS several letters written by PBS and herself. In February 1846, he threatens to publish letters from both PBS and Harriet Shelley, but is dissuaded when MWS threatens an injunction against the publication.
1846	[Mar]	MWS moves to 24 Chester Square, Pimlico.
1848	22 Jun	Percy Florence marries Jane St. John.
	Aug	MWS, Percy Florence, and Jane move to Field Place. In November, they also take an apartment in Warwick Square.
1849	May	Charles Clairmont's daughter, Clara Clairmont, visits MWS at Field Place. There, she meets Alexander Knox.
	16 June	Alexander Knox and Clara Clairmont marry; this creates an estrangement between Claire and the Shelleys.
	26 Dec	Frankenstein; or, The Model Man, by William and Robert Brough, opens at the Adelphi Theatre for a run of 26 performances.
1851	1 Feb	MWS dies at age 53 in her home at Chester Square, London. Lady Jane Shelley arranges for the remains of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin to be moved from St. Pancras to the churchyard at St. Peters, Bournemouth, and on 8 February, MWS is buried between her parents.
1859	28 Aug	Leigh Hunt dies.
1862	21 Aug	Thomas Jefferson Hogg dies.
1879	19 Mar	Claire Clairmont dies.
1881	13 Aug	Edward John Trelawny dies.
1884	Nov	Jane Williams Hogg dies.
1889	5 Dec	Percy Florence Shelley dies.
1922		MWS's drama Midas, which she wrote in 1820, is published in Proserpine & Midas: Two unpublished Mythological Dramas by Mary Shelley, ed. A.H. Koszul (London: Humphrey Milford).
1959		MWS's 1819-1829 novel Mathilda, ed. Elizabeth Nitchie (Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press), which she wrote in 1819-1820, is published.

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Last Modified on 11 February, 1998
Page created by Shanon Lawson. Any questions or comments, please e-mail swilson@udel.edu.