[SHELLEY, Mary Wollstonecraft (1797-1851)]. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus [a scathing review in: The Port Folio]. Philadelphia: Harrison Hall; London: John Souter, September 1818. 8vo (216 x 128 mm). Extracted pamphlet (first gathering detached, old spine residue, small marginal tear with loss on title-page). “THESE VOLUMES HAVE NEITHER PRINCIPLE, OBJECT, NOR MORALS, THE HORROR WHICH ABOUNDS IN THEM IS TOO GROTESQUE AND BIZARRE EVER TO APPROACH THE SUBLIME”. Contained within seven pages (pp. 200-207) of this periodical is a scathing review reprinted from the April issue of The British Critic, criticizing Shelley’s Frankenstein as a “sort of absurdity that approaches so often the confines of what is wicked and immoral, that we dare hardly trust ourselves to bestow even this qualified praise.” The review goes on to take a shot at the author’s gender, calling it an “aggravation of that which is the prevailing fault of the novel; but if our authoress can forget the gentleness of her sex, it is no reason why we should; and we shall therefore dismiss the novel without further comment”. In 2021, Shelley’s masterpiece set a new world record for a printed work by a woman when it was sold at Christie’s for $1.17 million. -- [With:] a press photo mock-up of Boris Karloff in his 1931 role as Frankenstein (numerous stamps, notations, etc., on verso).