WRITER

M. R. James

1862 - 1936

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Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1913–1915). James's scholarly work is still highly regarded, but he is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered by many critics and authors as the finest in the English language and widely influential on modern horror. James originally read the stories to friends and select students at Eton and Cambridge as Christmas Eve entertainments, and received wider attention when they were published in the collections Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925), and the hardback omnibus The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James (1931). James published a further three stories before his death in 1936, and seven previously unpublished or unfinished stories appeared in The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M. R. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of M. R. James has received more than 944,900 page views. His biography is available in 21 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). M. R. James is the 4,382nd most popular writer (up from 4,661st in 2019), the 3,128th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 3,528th in 2019) and the 351st most popular British Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 940k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 49.29

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 21

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.55

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.56

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

A thin ghost and others
Classic Literature, English Ghost stories, Fantasy
This volume of M.R. James's classic ghostly fiction contains: "Preface," "The Residence at Whitminster," "The Diary of Mr. Poynter," "The Episode of Cathedral History, "The Story of a Disappearance and an appearance," and "Two Doctors."About this volume, the author wrote: "I have had my doubts about the wisdom of publishing a third set of tales; sequels are, not only proverbially but actually, very hazardous things. However, the tales make no pretence but to amuse, and my friends have not seldom asked for the publication. So not a great deal is risked, perhaps, and perhaps also some one's Christmas may be the cheerfuller for a storybook which, I think, only once mentions the war."
1919
The Ghost Stories of M. R. James
English Ghost stories
1973
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
1993
Old Testament Legends
2004
Collected Ghost Stories
Ghost stories, English ghost stories, Horror stories
Considered by many to be the most terrifying writer in English, James's stories draw on the terrors of the everyday. Documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and night-time settings where imagination runs riot.
1931
Ghost-stories of an antiquary
English Ghost stories, Accessible book
1905

Among WRITERS

Among writers, M. R. James ranks 4,382 out of 7,302. Before him are William Wharton, Brian O'Nolan, Yervant Odian, Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, Roberto Saviano, and Marek Hłasko. After him are Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Camille Lemonnier, Karl Leberecht Immermann, Manuel Machado, Garlieb Merkel, and Arthur Golden.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1862, M. R. James ranks 120. Before him are Damrong Rajanubhab, Ida B. Wells, Theodor Fischer, Maironis, Florence Bascom, and Meliton Balanchivadze. After him are Moriz Rosenthal, Milenko Radomar Vesnić, Stanisław Narutowicz, Jules Renkin, Arthur De Greef, and Eugen Schmidt. Among people deceased in 1936, M. R. James ranks 146. Before him are Vilho Lampi, Huang Fu, Conchita Supervía, Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Francisco Ascaso, and Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi. After him are Oscar von Sydow, Rizaeddin bin Fakhreddin, Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Horacio Vásquez, Ludwig von Falkenhausen, and Ernestine Schumann-Heink.

Others Born in 1862

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Others Deceased in 1936

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, M. R. James ranks 3,128 out of 8,785. Before him are William Froude (1810), Ben Barnes (1981), Alexander Bain (1810), Antonio Pappano (1959), Rory McCann (1969), and Brian O'Nolan (1911). After him are Thomas Bewick (1753), Geoff Downes (1952), Johnny Herbert (1964), Raphael Holinshed (1529), Anne Bradstreet (1612), and Pete Ham (1947).

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, M. R. James ranks 351. Before him are John Stott (1921), Reynold A. Nicholson (1868), Winston Graham (1908), Andrew Marvell (1621), William Thoms (1803), and Brian O'Nolan (1911). After him are Raphael Holinshed (1529), Anne Bradstreet (1612), Robert Chambers (1802), Graham Swift (1949), Radclyffe Hall (1880), and Philip Reeve (1966).

British born Writers

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