Montague Rhodes James
M. R. James c.1900
Born	August 1, 1862
Died	June 12, 1936
Pen name	M. R. James
Nationality	British
Influenced Arthur Gray, John Betjeman, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, Russell Kirk, John Bellairs, Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell

Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, (August 1, 1862 – June 12, 1936), who published under the byline M. R. James, was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered today for his ghost stories in the classic Victorian Yuletide vein, which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... A collection of Betjemans poetry, published by John Murray in January 2006 Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Whos Who as a poet and hack. He was born to a middle-class family... This article is about the author. ... Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893-August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. ... Fritz Leiber portrait by Ed Emshwiller on July 1969 special issue devoted to Leiber. ... Russell Kirk Russell Kirk (1918, Plymouth, Michigan – 29 April 1994, Mecosta, Michigan), was an American political theorist, historian, social critic, and man of letters, best known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. ... Image:Notre Dame years. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... John Ramsey Campbell (born January 4, 1946 in Liverpool) is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. ... The Order of Merit is a British and Commonwealth Order bestowed by the Monarch. ... In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, the degree of Master of Arts (MA) is awarded to Bachelors of Arts of those universities on application after seven years seniority as members of the university. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Provost is the title of a senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada, the equivalent of Vice-Chancellor at certain UK universites such as UCL, and the head of certain Oxbridge colleges (e. ... For other uses, see Kings College. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and... A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or the belief of some character(s) in them. ... The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S...

Early influences

James was born in Goodnestone Parsonage in Kent, England, although his parents were closely connected with Aldeburgh, Suffolk. From the age of three (1865) until 1909 his home, if not always his residence, was at the Rectory in Great Livermere, Suffolk. This had also been the childhood home of another eminent Suffolk antiquary, "Honest Tom" Martin "of Palgrave." Several of the ghost stories are set in Suffolk, including "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'" (Felixstowe), "A Warning to the Curious" (Aldeburgh), "Rats" and "A Vignette" (Great Livermere). He lived for many years, first as an undergraduate, then as a don and provost, at King's College, Cambridge, which university provides settings for several of his tales. Apart from mediaeval subjects, James studied the classics and appeared very successfully in a staging of Aristophanes's play The Birds, with music by Hubert Parry. His ability as an actor was also seen when he read his new ghost stories to friends at Christmas time. There are two villages in Kent called Goodnestone. ... Parsonage According to [The Oxford English Reference Dictionary], a parsonage is a church house provided for a parson. Sometime it refers specifically to the house where a university or college chaplain lives, as well. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Map sources for Aldeburgh at grid reference TM4656 Aldeburgh is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England; it is located on the Alde river at 52° North, 1° East 1. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... Palgrave (or Palsgrave) is the English title of a Count Palatine (Pfalzgraf) of the Holy Roman Empire. ... , For the Aircraft manufacturer, see Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe Felixstowe is a North Sea seaport in Suffolk, England. ... For other uses, see Kings College. ... For other uses, see Aristophanes (disambiguation). ... The Birds (Ornithes) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in 414 BC, and performed that year for the Festival of Dionysus. ... Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (February 27, 1848 – October 7, 1918) was an English composer, probably best known for his setting of William Blakes poem, Jerusalem. ...

Scholarly works

James is most widely known for his ghost stories, but as a mediaeval scholar his output was phenomenal and remains highly respected in scholarly circles. Indeed the success of his antiquarian ghost-stories is rooted in his life as an antiquary. His discovery of a manuscript fragment led to excavations in the ruins of the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, West Suffolk, in 1902, in which the graves of several twelfth-century abbots described by Jocelyn de Brakelond (a contemporary chronicler) were rediscovered, having been lost since the Dissolution. His 1917 edition of the Latin Lives of Saint Aethelberht, king and martyr (English Historical Review 32), remains authoritative. , Bury St Edmunds is a town in the county of Suffolk, England, and was formerly the county town of West Suffolk. ... Jocelyn de Brakelond (fl. ... For other uses of the term dissolution see Dissolution. ... Æthelberht (died May 20, 794 at Sutton Wells, Herefordshire) was king of East Anglia. ...

He catalogued many of the manuscript libraries of the Cambridge and Oxford colleges. Among his other scholarly works, he wrote The Apocalypse in Art, which placed illuminated Apocalypse manuscripts into families. He also translated the New Testament Apocrypha. The fact that he was not a "dry" scholar is shown in his Suffolk and Norfolk (Dent, 1930), in which a great deal of knowledge is presented in a popular and accessible form, and in Abbeys (Great Western Railway, 1925). The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. ... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts are manuscripts that contain the text of Revelation and/or a commentary on Revelation and also illustrations. ... In the process of determining the Biblical canon, a large number of works were excluded from the New Testament. ...

Ghost stories

James's ghost stories were published in a series of collections: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), More Ghost Stories (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925). The first hardback collected edition appeared in 1931. In total he wrote 34 ghost stories. Many of the tales were penned as Christmas Eve entertainments and read aloud to select gatherings of friends. This idea was used by the BBC in the mid-1990s when they filmed Christopher Lee reading four stories in a candle-lit room in King's College, just as James did so dramatically ninety years before. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is the title of M. R. James first collection of ghost stories, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). ... More Ghost Stories is the title of M. R. James second collection of ghost stories, published in 1911 (one had previously appeared in the Contemporary Review). ... For other persons named Christopher Lee, see Christopher Lee (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Kings College. ...

James perfected a method of story-telling which has since become known as Jamesian. The classic Jamesian tale usually includes the following key elements:

1. a characterful setting in an English small village, seaside town or country estate; an ancient town in France, Denmark or Sweden; or a venerable abbey or university
2. a nondescript and rather naive gentleman-scholar as protagonist (often repressed in nature)
3. the discovery of an old book or other antiquarian object that somehow calls down the wrath, or at least the unwelcome attention, of a supernatural menace, usually from beyond the grave

According to James, the story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself: 'If I'm not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'" He also perfected the literary technique of the genre: narrating supernatural events principally through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology Ghosts and Marvels (Oxford, 1924): "Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo.… Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage." Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

A further important point he made was: "Another requisite, in my opinion, is that the ghost should be malevolent or odious: amiable and helpful apparitions are all very well in fairy tales or in local legends, but I have no use for them in a fictitious ghost story."

Despite his suggestion (in the essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write") that writers employ reticence in their work, many of James's tales depict scenes and images of savage and often disturbing violence. For example, in "Lost Hearts", pubescent children are drugged by a sinister dabbler in the occult who then removes their hearts from their paralysed bodies. In a 1929 essay, James stated:

Reticence may be an elderly doctrine to preach, yet from the artistic point of view, I am sure it is a sound one. Reticence conduces to effect, blatancy ruins it, and there is much blatancy in a lot of recent stories. They drag in sex too, which is a fatal mistake; sex is tiresome enough in the novels; in a ghost story, or as the backbone of a ghost story, I have no patience with it. At the same time don't let us be mild and drab. Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded; the weltering and wallowing that I too often encounter merely recall the methods of M G Lewis.^[1]

Although not overtly sexual, plots of this nature have been perceived as unintentional metaphors of the Freudian variety. James's biographer Michael Cox wrote in M. R. James: An Informal Portrait (1983), "One need not be a professional psychoanalyst to see the ghost stories as some release from feelings held in check." Reviewing this biography (Daily Telegraph, 1983), the novelist and diarist Anthony Powell, who attended Eton under James's tutelage, commented that "I myself have heard it suggested that James's (of course platonic) love affairs were in fact fascinating to watch." Powell was referring to James' relationships with his pupils, not his peers. Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... Anthony Dymoke Powell, CH (December 21, 1905 - March 28, 2000) was a British novelist best known for his A Dance to the Music of Time duodecalogy published between 1951 and 1975. ...

Other critics have seen complex psychological undercurrents in James's work. His authorial revulsion from tactile contact with other people has been noted by Julia Briggs in Night Visitors: The Rise and Fall of the English Ghost Story (1977). As Nigel Kneale said in the introduction to the Folio Society edition of Ghost Stories of M. R. James, "In an age where every man is his own psychologist, M. R. James looks like rich and promising material.… There must have been times when it was hard to be Monty James." Nigel Kneale (born Thomas Nigel Kneale on April 18, 1922 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK) is a Manx television and film scriptwriter, who has worked mostly in the UK. He is best known for his creation of the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass, who has appeared in three... The Luttrell Psalter (2006) Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (1962) The Wind in the Willows (2006) The Folio Society, founded in 1947, is based on the fringes of Bloomsbury, London. ...

In addition to writing his own stories, James championed the works of Sheridan Le Fanu, whom he viewed as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories", editing and supplying introductions to Madame Crowl's Ghost (1923) and Uncle Silas (1926). Sheridan Le Fanu Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (August 28, 1814 – February 7, 1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. ...

James's actual beliefs about ghosts were ambiguous. He wrote, "I answer that I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me."

Adaptations

Television

There have been numerous television adaptations of James's stories, mostly in Britain. Two of the best-known TV dramas include Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968, directed by Jonathan Miller) and A Warning to the Curious (1972; directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark), starring Sir Michael Hordern and Peter Vaughan respectively. Both were released on DVD by the British Film Institute but are now out-of-print. This article is about the British physician, theatre and opera director, and television presenter; for other people named Jonathan Miller, see Jonathan Miller (disambiguation). ... Sir Michael Hordern (October 3, 1911-May 2, 1995) was a British actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre. ... Peter Vaughan (born April 4, 1923) is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and...

Although ITV produced four black-and-white adaptations of James's ghost stories between 1966 and 1968, no surviving copies are known to exist. However, a short preview trailer featuring several scenes from Casting the Runes survived and has been shown at cult film festivals. "Casting the Runes" was also adapted for television in 1979 as an episode of the ITV Playhouse series.^[2] For other uses, see ITV (disambiguation). ...

From 1971 to 1978 the BBC broadcast a new ghost story each Christmas in a series titled A Ghost Story for Christmas. Five dramatizations of James stories were included: The Stalls Of Barchester (1971), A Warning to the Curious (1972), Lost Hearts (1973), The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974) and The Ash-tree (1975). For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

In 1975 Yorkshire Television produced a twenty-minute adaptation of "Mr Humphrey's Inheritance" for schools. In 1979 they produced a contemporary version of "Casting the Runes", with Lawrence Gordon Clark directing.

In December 1986 BBC2 broadcast partially dramatized readings by the actor Robert Powell of "The Mezzotint", "The Ash-Tree", "Wailing Well", "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" and "The Rose Garden". In a similar vein, the BBC also produced a short series (M. R. James' Ghost Stories for Christmas) of further readings in 2000, which featured Christopher Lee as James, who (in character) read adaptations of "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral", "The Ash-tree", "Number 13" and "A Warning to the Curious". BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC. History The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:20pm on April 20, 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and... Robert Powell (born June 1, 1944), is a well-known English television and film actor, known for the title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay. ... For other persons named Christopher Lee, see Christopher Lee (disambiguation). ...

The 1970s Ghost Story for Christmas tradition was briefly revived in December 2005, when BBC Four broadcast a new version of James's story "A View from a Hill", with "Number 13" following in December 2006. These were broadly faithful to the originals and were quite well-received. For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 4. ...

Radio and audio

On November 19, 1947, the thirteenth episode of the CBS radio series Escape was an adaptation of "Casting the Runes". is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Escape was radios leading series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. ...

On January 12, 1974, the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, hosted by E. G. Marshall, presented the episode "I Warn You Three Times", which was an updated, loose adaptation of "Casting the Runes". is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... The CBS Radio Mystery Theater logo The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT) was an ambitious and sustained attempt in the 1970s to revive the great drama of old-time radio. ... E. G. Marshal as the President in Superman II E. G. Marshall (June 18, 1914 - August 24, 1998) was a two time Emmy Award winner American actor who starred in the 1957 movie 12 Angry Men. ...

Towards the end of the 1980s the BBC producer Sheila Hodgson authored and produced a series of plays for BBC Radio 4 which innovatively cast M. R. James as the diarist of a series of fictional ghost stories inspired by fragments referred to in his essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write". The actor Michael Williams appeared in some of these as M. R. James. Many of these are believed lost owing to the BBC's pre-2000 policy of not keeping copies of broadcast radio drama. old Radio 4 logo BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Michael Leonard Williams (9 July 1935 – 11 January 2001) was a British actor. ...

In 1997–1998 Radio 4 broadcast The Late Book: Ghost Stories, a series of 15-minute readings of M. R. James stories, abridged and produced by Paul Kent and narrated by Benjamin Whitrow (repeated on BBC 7, December 2003–January 2004, September–October 2004, February 2007). The stories were "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book", "Lost Hearts", "A School Story", "The Haunted Dolls' House" and "Rats". Benjamin Ben Whitrow (born 17 February 1937 in Oxford, England) is a British actor. ... BBC Radio 7 is a digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and childrens programming 24 hours a day. ...

In 2003, Radio 4 broadcast The House at World's End by Stephen Sheridan. A pastiche of James's work, it contained numerous echoes of his stories while offering a fictional account of how he became interested in the supernatural. James was played by John Rowe, with Jonathan Keeble playing his younger self. John Rowe was an officer of the United States Navy during the First Barbary War. ...

In the 1980s, a series of four double audio cassettes was released by Argo Records, featuring nineteen unabridged James stories narrated by Michael Hordern. The tapes were titled Ghost Stories (1982), More Ghost Stories (1984), A Warning to the Curious (1985) and No. 13 and Other Ghost Stories (1988). ISIS Audio Books also released two collections of unabridged James stories, this time narrated by Nigel Lambert. These tapes were titled A Warning to the Curious and Other Tales (four audio cassettes, six stories, March 1992) and Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (three audio cassettes, eight stories, December 1992). For the American label, see Argo Records Argo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill (born c. ... Sir Michael Hordern (October 3, 1911-May 2, 1995) was a British actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre. ... Nigel Lambert (born 1944) was a narrator in the first series of the BBC programme Look Around You in 2002. ...

In Spring 2007 UK-based Craftsman Audio Books released the first complete set of audio recordings of James's stories on CD, spread across two volumes. These were recorded with the actor David Collings (who appeared as Silver in the cult TV series Sapphire & Steel) as reader. The ghost story author Reggie Oliver acted as consultant on the project. Sapphire & Steel is a British television science-fiction series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

April 2007 also saw the release of Tales of the Supernatural, Volume One, an audiobook presentation by Fantom Films, featuring the James stories "Lost Hearts" read by Geoffrey Bayldon, "Rats" and "Number 13" by Ian Fairbairn, with Gareth David-Lloyd reading "Casting the Runes" and "There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard". Volume Two was to follow in the summer. Geoffrey Bayldon Geoffrey Bayldon (born January 7, 1924 in Leeds, Yorkshire) is a British actor. ... -1...

Over the 2007 Christmas period Radio 4 revived the tradition of M.R. James's ghost stories for the festive period with a series of adaptations of his most popular tales. Each lasted around 15 minutes and were introduced by Derek Jacobi as James himself. Due to the short running times the tales were fairy rushed with much of the story condensed or removed. Stories adapted included: Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, Number 13 and Lost Hearts.

Film

The only notable film version of James's work to date has been the highly influential British adaptation of "Casting the Runes" by Jacques Tourneur as Night of the Demon (1957; U.S. title Curse of the Demon). The film is generally considered one of the high points of the British horror film, if not, indeed, of British Cinema generally. Jacques Tourneur, born November 12, 1904 – died December 19, 1977, was a French film director. ... Night Of The Demon is a 1980 low-budget horror movie directed by James C. Wasson and written by Mike Williams, presenting a gory and occasionally quite unsettling take on the Bigfoot legend. ... Horror Movie redirects here. ...

Stage

The first stage version of "Casting the Runes" was performed at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds, England on 9–10 June 2006 by the Pandemonium Theatre Company.[1] For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

In 2006–2007, Nunkie Theatre Company toured A Pleasing Terror round the UK and Ireland. This one-man show was an atmospheric retelling of two of James's tales, "Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book" and "The Mezzotint". In October 2007 a sequel, Oh, Whistle..., comprising "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" and "The Ash-tree", began to tour the UK.

Influence

H. P. Lovecraft was an admirer of James's work, extolling the stories as the peak of the ghost story form in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature." Another renowned fan of James in the horror and fantasy genre was Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote an essay on him. The author John Bellairs paid homage to James by incorporating plot elements borrowed from James's ghost stories into several of his own juvenile mysteries. Other writers in the Jamesian tradition include A. N. L. Munby, E. G. Swain, and R. H. Malden, although their stories are generally considered to be inferior to those of James himself.^[3] The stories of M. R. James continue to influence many of today's great supernatural writers, including Stephen King (The Shining, etc.) and Ramsey Campbell, who edited Meddling with Ghosts: Stories in the Tradition of M. R. James and wrote the short story "The Guide" in tribute.^[4] This article is about the author. ... Supernatural Horror in Literature is a collection of essays written in 1927 and added to between 1933 and 1935 by the famed fantasy and horror author H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). ... Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893-August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. ... Image:Notre Dame years. ... Alan Noel Latimer Munby (1913 - 1974) was an English author, writer and librarian. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... John Ramsey Campbell (born January 4, 1946 in Liverpool) is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. ...

Sir John Betjeman, in an introduction to Peter Haining's book about James, shows how influenced he was by Dr James's work: A collection of Betjemans poetry, published by John Murray in January 2006 Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Whos Who as a poet and hack. He was born to a middle-class family...

In the year 1920 I was a new boy at the Dragon school, Oxford, then called Lynam's, of which the headmaster was C. C. Lynam, known as 'the Skipper'. He dressed and looked like an old Sea Salt, and in his gruff voice would tell us stories by firelight in the boys' room of an evening with all the lights out and his back to the fire. I remember he told the stories as having happened to himself.…they were the best stories I ever heard, and gave me an interest in old churches, and country houses, and Scandinavia that not even the mighty Hans Christian Andersen eclipsed. Dragon School logo School House at the Dragon School, on Bardwell Road. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ...

Betjeman later discovered the stories were all based on those of M. R. James.

The band The Coral recorded a song titled "A Warning to the Curious", which appears on their 2005 album The Invisible Invasion The Coral are an English band formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula near Liverpool. ... The Invisible Invasion is the third full-length album by The Coral (fourth if you count the mini-album Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker). ...

Works

Scholarly works

• Apocrypha Anecdota (1893–1897)
• A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library Of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1912)[2]
• The Biblical Antiquities of Philo (1917)
• The Wanderings and Homes of Manuscripts (1919)
• Henry the Sixth: A Reprint of John Blacman's Memoir (1919)
• The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament (1920)
• The Apocryphal New Testament (1924)
• The Apocalypse in Art (Schweich Lectures for 1927)

Ghost story collections

• Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)
• More Ghost Stories (1911)
• A Thin Ghost and Others (1919)
• A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925)
• Wailing Well (1928)
• The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James (1931)
• Best Ghost Stories of M. R. James (1944)
• The Ghost Stories of M. R. James (1986)—selection by Michael Cox, including an excellent introduction with numerous photographs
• Two Ghost Stories: A Centenary (1993)
• The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M.R. James in Ghosts and Scholars (1999)
• A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings (2001)
• Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories (2005; edited, with an introduction and notes, by S. T. Joshi)
• The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories (2006; edited, with an introduction and notes, by S. T. Joshi)

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is the title of M. R. James first collection of ghost stories, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). ... More Ghost Stories is the title of M. R. James second collection of ghost stories, published in 1911 (one had previously appeared in the Contemporary Review). ... Sunanda Tryambak Joshi (b. ...

Guidebooks

• Abbeys (1926)
• Suffolk and Norfolk (1930)

Children's books

• The Five Jars (1920)
• Forty-Two Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen, translated and with an introduction by M. R. James (1930)

For other uses, see Hans Christian Andersen (disambiguation). ...

Notes

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... John Ramsey Campbell (born January 4, 1946 in Liverpool) is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. ... British Library main building, London The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. ...

References

• Bleiler, E. F. The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Shasta Publishers, 1948.
• Cox, Michael. M. R. James: An Informal Portrait. Oxford University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-19-211765-3.
• James, M. R. A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings, ed. Christopher Roden and Barbara Roden. Ash-Tree Press, 2001. ISBN 1-55310-024-7.
• Joshi, S.T. Introductions to Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories. Penguin Classics, 2005. ISBN 0-14-303939-3 and The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories. Penguin Classics, 2006. ISBN 0-14-303992-X.
• Pfaff, Richard William. Montague Rhodes James. Scolar Press, 1980. (concentrates on his scholarly work)
• Sullivan, Jack. Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story from Le Fanu to Blackwood. Ohio University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-8214-0374-5.
• Tolhurst, Peter. East Anglia—a Literary Pilgrimage. Black Dog Books, Bungay, 1996. ISBN 0-9528839-0-2. (pp. 99–101).
• Wagenknecht, Edward. Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction. Greenwood Press, 1991. ISBN 0-313-27960-8.
• Peter Haining, M. R. James - Book of the Supernatural. (1979) Introduction by Sir John Betjeman Articles and rare items about MRJ. (ISBN 0-572-01048-6)

Ash-Tree Press is a Canadian company that publishes supernatural and horror literature. ... Sunand Tryambak Joshi (b. ... Jack Sullivan (born 1946) is an American literary scholar, essayist, author, editor, musicologist, and short story writer. ... Edward (Charles) Wagenknecht (March 28, 1900 - May 24, 2004) was a U.S. literary critic and teacher, who specialized in 19th century American literature. ... Peter Haining is a well-known journalist and author who lives and works in London. ... A collection of Betjemans poetry, published by John Murray in January 2006 Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Whos Who as a poet and hack. He was born to a middle-class family...

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Montague Rhodes James

• A complete chronological bibliography of all of his writings hosted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences
• Ghosts & Scholars - exhaustive online magazine devoted to James and related literature and writers
• A Guide to Supernatural Fiction - descriptions and images of James's books of fiction
• Works by M. R. James at Project Gutenberg
• A collection of scholarly essays on various aspects of M. R. James's supernatural fiction
• Nunkie Theatre Company - a Cambridge-based theatre company, presenting two M. R. James tales
• The Haunted River — essays on M. R. James and his ghost stories
• Ghost stories of an antiquary - LibriVox (Freely available vounteer driven audio recordings)