Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by Montague Rhodes James - 1926

A GENUINE DATE-STAMPED 1926 UK EDITION THAT IS NOW 98 YEARS OLD & VERY WELL-KEPT

PRINTED AND BOUND BY BILLING AND SONS, LONDON
IN ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS CONDITION, AND IT'S NEARLY A CENTURY OLD
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF OMINOUS TALES EVER COMPILED

Now, this is a dark and strange book of ghost tales. It was written by one of the greatest writers of horror and Terror, Montague Rhodes James. When it comes to dark tales, he is considered one of the greatest writers in history. This book is considered one of the best collections of old ghost tales ever compiled. I have seen certain printings for over $1000.

Contents

"Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book"
"Lost Hearts"
"The Mezzotint"
"The Ash-tree"
"Number 13"
"Count Magnus"
"'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad''"
"The Treasure of Abbot Thomas"

Montague Rhodes James OM FBA (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar, and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and Eton College (1918–1936). He was also Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1913–15).

Though James's work as a medievalist and scholar is still highly regarded, he is best remembered for his ghost stories, which some regard as among the best in the genre. He redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. However, his protagonists and plots tend to reflect his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the "antiquarian ghost story."

James is best known for his ghost stories, but his work as a medievalist scholar was prodigious and remains highly respected in scholarly circles. Indeed, the success of his stories was founded on his antiquarian talents and knowledge. 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 of the Monasteries. His 1917 edition of the Latin hagiography of Æthelberht II of East Anglia, king, and martyr (English Historical Review 32), remains authoritative.

He cataloged many of the manuscript libraries of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. Among his other scholarly works, he wrote The Apocalypse in Art, which placed the English Apocalypse manuscripts into families. He also translated the New Testament Apocrypha and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903). His ability to wear his learning lightly is apparent 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).

He also achieved a great deal during his directorship of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (1893–1908). He managed to secure a large number of important paintings and manuscripts, including notable portraits by Titian.

James was Provost of Eton College from 1918 to 1936. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930. He died in 1936 (age 73) and was buried in Eton town cemetery.