Several years ago I set myself the challenge of collecting original copies of as many of M. R. James’ published works as I could, alongside books by other authors about James or Jamesian subjects. Before I began, I hadn’t quite realised how prolific a writer James had actually been during his lifetime, and only through proper research of his full bibliography did it become apparent quite how colossal a task I had set for myself.
The full list runs to somewhere in the realm of five hundred individual items, and outside of the more well known-ghost stories and scholarly works there are to be found a plethora of contributions, letters, articles, forewords, introductions, translations and the like. I’ve realised by now that this is a task that, due to reasons of scope, cost, scarcity and obscurity, I will likely never finish. Nevertheless, as anybody drawn to collecting knows, the real fun is to be had in the chase rather than the catch.
In these pages I will provide a visual catalogue of my full collection for those interested in such things. I am by no means an expert in the minutiae of book collecting, and am not concerned with acquiring perfect, first edition copies of James’ writings (although this would always be a welcome bonus). I am merely interested in James the man, his ghost stories, and his other writings.
I would be very interested to hear from any other collectors of James’ works, so please do get in touch via the contact page if you have a collection of your own, or any interesting James-related artefacts.
Antiquarian Ghosts 