Publication History and Reception
Two editions of The Last Man were published by Henry Colburn in London in 1826, and one edition in Paris in 1826 by Galignani. A pirated edition was printed in America in 1833. The Last Man received the worst reviews of all of Mary Shelley's novels: most reviewers derided the very theme of lastness, which had become a common one in the previous two decades. Individual reviewers labeled the book "sickening", criticised its "stupid cruelties", and called the author's imagination "diseased". The reaction startled Mary Shelley, who promised her publisher a more popular book next time. Nonetheless, she later spoke of The Last Man as one of her favourite works. The novel was not republished until 1965. In the 20th century it received new critical attention, perhaps because the notion of lastness had become more relevant.
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