Mary Shelleys authorship of the novel Frankenstein guaranteed her wide-spread renown， but her turbulent life and other literary works are equallyfascinating. Born in 1797 to the writers Mary Wollstonecraft and WilliamGodwin. she inherited her parents passion for literature， social justice， andwomens rights. At the age of just sixteen she ran away with Romantic poetPercy Bysshe Shelle）， and was widowed by twenty-four. During their eightyears together （living mainly in Italy）， she was estranged from her family andsometimes from her husband， suffered periods of depression， and saw threeof their four children die in infancy. Despite her troubles， Mary Shelley main-tained a busy social life， including a complicated friendship with the poetI，ord Byron. She also wrote journals， short stories， mythical dramas， andseveral novels， including Frankenstein. After her husbands death in 1822 shereturned to England with her surviving son. She continued to write， both inorder to earn a living and to satisfy her literary ambitions. She also producedmajor editions of" her husbands poetry and prose.Martin Garretts engaging biography - extensively illustrated with originalletters and manuscripts - captures the extraordinary life of Mary Shelley andthe social circle in which she moved. Theauthor also discusses some of MaryShelleyslesser-known writings， longneglected but now the subject of continuing critical attention.

Mary Shelleys authorship of the novel Frankenstein guaranteed her wide-spread renown， but her turbulent life and other literary works are equallyfascinating. Born in 1797 to the writers Mary Wollstonecraft and WilliamGodwin. she inherited her parents passion for literature， social justice， andwomens rights. At the age of just sixteen she ran away with Romantic poetPercy Bysshe Shelle）， and was widowed by twenty-four. During their eightyears together （living mainly in Italy）， she was estranged from her family andsometimes from her husband， suffered periods of depression， and saw threeof their four children die in infancy. Despite her troubles， Mary Shelley main-tained a busy social life， including a complicated friendship with the poetI，ord Byron. She also wrote journals， short stories， mythical dramas， andseveral novels， including Frankenstein. After her husbands death in 1822 shereturned to England with her surviving son. She continued to write， both inorder to earn a living and to satisfy her literary ambitions. She also producedmajor editions of" her husbands poetry and prose.Martin Garretts engaging biography - extensively illustrated with originalletters and manuscripts - captures the extraordinary life of Mary Shelley andthe social circle in which she moved. Theauthor also discusses some of MaryShelleyslesser-known writings， longneglected but now the subject of continuing critical attention.
作者簡介：
Martin Garrett has written extensively onboth nineteenth-century and Renais-sance literature. His recent booksinclude two titles in The British LibraryWriters Lives series - George Gordon. LordByron （2000） and Elizabeth Barrett Brown-ing and Robert Browning （2001） - andVenic： A Cultural and Literary Companion（Signal Books， 2001）. He is also theauthor of A MaryShelley. Chronology，（Palgrave Macmillan. 2001）.

Martin Garrett has written extensively onboth nineteenth-century and Renais-sance literature. His recent booksinclude two titles in The British LibraryWriters Lives series - George Gordon. LordByron （2000） and Elizabeth Barrett Brown-ing and Robert Browning （2001） - andVenic： A Cultural and Literary Companion（Signal Books， 2001）. He is also theauthor of A MaryShelley. Chronology，（Palgrave Macmillan. 2001）.

Mary Godwin： bold， somewhat imperious， and active of mind
The irresistible wildness and sublimity of her feelings， 1814
London and enshadowing thickets， 1814--1816
Switzerland and the component parts of a creature， 1816
Bath， Marlow and London， 1816-1818
Sorrows most obscure abode：Italy， 1818-1819
Pisa， San Terenzo and Genoa， 1820-1823
Presumption and The Last Man，1823-1826
The genuine affections of the heart， 1826-1840
Rambles and Unreserved directness， 1840-1851
Chronology
Further Reading
Index

with her lost mo~er and estranged father．This sense might be extended if she could write something worthy of them and of her lover，of whose poetic genius she from the beginning had no doubt and who，she says in the Frankenstein introduction，was‘very anxious that I should prove myself worthy of my parentage，and enrol myself on the page offame’．
Claire Clairmont too was keen to make her mark．In consequence，she wrote to Lord Byron，the most famous and fashionable poet of the day，in March or early April 1 8 1 6．She worked，in a series of letters，to whet his interest．She asked for advice on a possible acting career，described and then sent her manuscript novel，and carefully indicated her Shelley and Godwin links．Finally he agreed to meet her．

普通中國讀者，包括英語專業的學生，對於英國文學的了解一般隻限於個別經典作品，而對作家其人其事及其整個文學創作情況所知甚少。其中部分的原因是文學史家們編寫的英國文學史往往注重介紹作品的情節內容，對作家的生活經歷、作品的具體創作過程著墨不多。上海外語教育出版社從英國大英圖書館出版社（The British Librarv）引進出版“英國作家生平叢書”，彌補了這方面的缺憾。該叢書以圖文並茂的形式講述莎士比亞等14位英國著名作家的生平故事，同時穿插介紹他們的作品，有助於充實讀者對英國文學的認識。
英國文學源遠流長，經歷了長期復雜的發展演變過程。在這個過程中，文學本體以外的各種現實的、歷史的、政治的、文化的力量對文學發生著影響，而作家個體的獨特生活遭遇也是造就文學傑作的一個重要因素。“英國作家生平叢書”對14位名家的傳記式介紹，充分展示了這一點。戲劇方面，莎士比亞是英國文藝復興時期最傑出的劇作家，他當過演員，其作品思想內容深刻、藝術表現手法精湛，歷經幾個世紀長演不衰。詩歌方面，浪漫主義詩人華茲華斯、柯勒律治、拜倫、濟慈的不同身世對他們的詩歌創作及藝術風格產生深刻影響；維多利亞時代詩人伊麗莎白·巴雷特和羅伯特·布朗寧的愛情故事是英國文壇的一段佳話。小說方面，狄更斯是19世紀英國最偉大的小說家，他的許多小說以孤兒為主人公，這與作家童年時代的一段不幸經歷有關；康拉德來自波蘭，將自己奇特的身世背景和航海經歷交融在字裡行間；女作家奧斯丁、瑪麗·雪萊、勃朗特姐妹、伍爾夫以女性特有的視角和敏銳的觀察描摹人性與社會，思考婦女的生存狀況，她們的小說無論在思想主題、題材表現方面，還是在敘述手法上，都有創新，對推動英國文學的發展作出了突出貢獻。
“英國作家生平叢書”原版由大英圖書館出版社出版，體現出圖書館出版物的特點。書中配有大量的插圖，有些是珍貴的手稿，有些是罕見的照片，有些是博物館或美術館珍藏的油畫和素描，讓讀者有幸一睹作家的風采，產生直觀的感覺。這些插圖帶有不同時代的印記，營造出濃厚的歷史感。叢書的作者均為專業領域裡有著較深造詣的學者，對史料的掌握繫統全面，他們用生動的語言娓娓講述作家生平事跡，點評具體文學作品，書末還附有供讀者進一步閱讀的書單，推薦了有代表性的文獻，對英語專業學生撰寫課程論文或畢業論文很有幫助。
“英國作家生平叢書”內容有趣，插圖精美，文字簡潔，兼顧普及性和專業性，是學習和了解英國文學的良師益友。
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