Charles Knight (1791-1873) 

Charles Knight was an English publisher, editor and author. He helped to establish several literary magazines including 'Knight's Quarterly Magazine', 'The Penny Magazine' and 'The Penny Cyclopaedia' which he also edited. 

"Mrs Shelley edited her husband's poems in 1839…"

In his letter to Sampson Low dated 8th June 1866, Charles Knight responds to queries put to him by Low and refers to publications of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetical works including 'Queen Mab' and 'Alastor'. 

In 1824 Charles Knight's periodical 'Knight's Quarterly Magazine' reviewed Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' which was first published in 1818. The review alleged the novel was written by her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, basing this conclusion on a comparison with her second novel 'Valperga'.

View Charles Knight's letter [opens in a new window]

Image Rights: © National Portrait Gallery London. By Antoine Claudet albumen carte-de-visite 1860s https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/