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Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is born in London. She is the only child of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the political philosopher William Godwin.
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Mary Wollstonecraft dies as a result of complications from childbirth.
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William Godwin marries a widow named Mary Jane Clairmont, who moves in with her two children, Charles and Claire.
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Mary Jane Godwin gives birth to William Godwin, Jr.
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Mary 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.
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Mary possibly meets P. B. Shelley when he and Harriet dine with the Godwins.
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They possibly meet for the second time.
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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.
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Mary, Percy and Claire return from Switzerland to London.
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PBS introduces MWS to his Oxford friend, Thomas Jefferson Hogg. Shelley records in his journal that Hogg is "pleased with Mary."
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Charles Shelley born to PBS and Harriet Shelley (former wife), their second child.
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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.
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MWS gives birth two months prematurely to daughter, Clara.
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MWS's premature daughter Clara dies.
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MWS gives birth to a son, William.
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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
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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.
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16-17 Jun MWS begins to write Frankenstein.
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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.
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MWS's journal entry reads "Write my story"; this is the first extant written reference to Frankenstein.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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MWS completes Frankenstein
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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.
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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.
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Clara Everina (May and Percy's girl) dies in Venice from dysentery she had contracted during the hurried journey to Este.
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MWS gives birth to a son, Percy Florence.
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Jul The first translation of Frankenstein is published in France: Frankenstein; ou le Prométhée Moderne (Paris: Corréard), translated by Jules Saladin.
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PBS and Edward Williams sail to Leghorn in Shelley's boat, the Don Juan, to meet the Hunts. On 8 July, they return and, sometime during the voyage, drown in the Gulf of Spezia. Their bodies are found ten days later.
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PBS's body is cremated at Viareggio. Williams' body is cremated the day before.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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(APP) Mary dedicates to editing and publishing Percy Bysshe's poems and works, and also devotes herself to writing and travelling.
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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.
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Percy Florence Shelley dies.