Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley - Joint journal entry

Part of the Shelley's Ghost Exhibition. Shelley and Mary eloped at 4.15 am on 28 July 1814, accompanied by Mary's step-sister Jane Clairmont.

They were pursued by Mrs Godwin (Claire's mother), who caught up with them the following day at Calais, but failed to persuade them to return. On 2 August Shelley, Mary and Claire reached Paris, where they purchased this notebook. Shelley wrote up their dramatic flight from England, the stormy crossing (during which he began 'to reason upon death') and their arrival in France. Mary makes her first contribution to the journal by lightly completing a sentence: 'Mary was there. Shelley was also with me.'