Mapping Exclamation Point evolution up to, and including Shelley's Frankenstein

By cheisserer

  • A Short Introduction to English Grammar published

    Written by Robert Lowth, this book aimed to lay down rules for grammar. For punctuation, on the other hand, "few precise rules can e given, which will hold without exception in all cases; but much be left to the judgment and taste of the writer."

  • Philosophy of Rhetoric published

    George Campbell said, "Language is purely a species of fashion... It is not the business of grammar, as some critics seem preposterously to imagine, to give law to the fashions which regulate our speech."

  • English Grammar published

    Written by Lindley Murray, this book adapted Lowth's publication. Murray's book reprinted into 24 editions between 1797 and 1870.

  • Initial Publication of Frankenstein

    Initial Publication of Shelley's Frankenstein, published anonymously, with the help of Percy Shelley, by Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, and Jones. It was in a three-volume format.

  • Death of Percy Bysshe Shelley

    Died when his boat went under in a freak storm.

  • 1822 Republication of Frankenstein

    Due to the success of a stage play written off the initial publication, and having recently lost Percy Shelley in an unexpected boating accident, Mary Shelley republishes the 1818 edition of Frankenstein again in a two volume set, this time with her name on it. Published by G. and W. B. Whittaker.

  • An English Grammar Published

    Written by Samuel Kirkham, which modeled Murray's form, left out punctuation entirely, yet then began covering punctuation in the second edition on.

  • Death of Lord Byron

  • 1831 Publication of Frankenstein

    After the deaths of her husband Percy, friend Lord Byron, and two of her children, Mary Shelley alters great amounts of the text to reflect her perspective on life; whim, destiny, fate are far more prevalent in the republication. This was published in a single volume. Published by Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley.

  • Publication of The Original Frankenstein

    An edition published to note the changes made from Mary Shelley's hand to Percy Shelley's hand, in-depth toward the initial 1818 publication. Edited by Charles E. Robinson.