The last man
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Author), Henry Colburn (Publisher), Shackell and Arrowsmith (Printer, Printer)
Shelley's second major novel after Frankenstein, The Last Man is a science-fiction novel in three parts set in the late twenty-first century. The first part establishes the setting of a far future Republican England and a cast of characters who draw inspiration from the author’s own social circle, including her husband Percy Shelley and their friend Lord Byron. Like their real-life counterparts, the characters become involved in a conflict between the Greeks and the Ottoman Turks. The second part introduces a deadly plague that ravages Europe, England, and the rest of the world. The third part deals with the dwindling survivors of the plague searching for safety and other remaining humans. Eventually, only Lionel Verney, the titular “last man” is left alone with only a sheep dog for a companion on his journey through a post-apocalyptic world devoid of humanity and reclaimed by nature
Print Book, English, 1826
H. Colburn, London, 1826