Montague Rhodes James

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MR James (1900)

Montague Rhodes James (born August 1, 1862 in Goodnestone , Dover , Kent , England, † June 12, 1936 in Eton , Berkshire , England) was an English archaeologist and ghost story writer .

Live and act

The highly gifted MR James went through his school career with great success. He attended Temple Grove School , Eton College in Eton and King's College in Cambridge . He later took a job at King's College and finally became its head in 1905. In 1918 he was promoted to head of Eton College.

The sociable James had a large circle of friends, but remained unmarried. He described himself as open to supernatural apparitions, but was by no means what people in Britain call a ghost hunter . He cultivated his love for the history of ghosts by studying the Irish writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873), whose relevant stories he re-edited.

In the course of time, he wrote an immense number of textbooks and papers. He was particularly interested in apocryphal scriptures and medieval manuscripts . As a profound expert on the subject, he cataloged much of the manuscript holdings at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford .

James became known to the public from 1894 through his ghost stories, where he got inspiration from numerous trips on the European continent. His profound historical knowledge, which he incorporated into his stories, gives them a touch of authenticity .

James often made use of the elements of "classic" ghost stories and perfected them: the setting is often a rural area, small town or an honorable university with a quirky scholar as protagonist . The discovery of an old book or other antique conjures up doom or a phantom threat. Evil is rather hinted at and left to the reader's imagination, whereas the characters and the setting are described in detail.

Also recognized by HP Lovecraft, James inspired numerous writers in the genre, including ANL Munby , EG Swain and AC Benson . His stories were at times very popular in England and - following an English tradition - were often read out in good company on Christmas Eve .

James' stories appeared several times in aggregate and were adapted for radio and television . The BBC broadcast Christmas readings for many years.

In 1903 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the British Academy .

Works

Collected stories

from it: "Oh, whistle, and I'll come to you in a minute, my darling" ("Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad") . Hannover, jmb 2011. ISBN 978-3-940970-68-8

German editions: "13 Geistergeschichten" (13 Ghost Stories) Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Hegereiter-Verlag 1962, translated by Otto Knörrich. Reprint: Suhrkamp 1990 Contents: Der Kupferstich (The Mezzotint); Number 13 (Number 13); "Whistle and I'll come to you, my friend!" (Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad); A School Story; The Rose Garden; The Tractate Middoth; Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance; The Residence at Whitminster; The Diary of Mr. Poynter; The Uncommon Prayer-Book; A View from a Hill; A Warning to the Curious; Rats (rats).

"The treasure of Abbot Thomas" Frankfurt / Main: Insel Verlag 1970, translated by Friedrich Polakovics. Reprint: Suhrkamp 1979 Contents: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas; Lost Hearts; "Ibi cubavit Lamia" (An Episode of Cathedral History); The Haunted Doll's House; The Legacy of Canon Alberic (Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book); A Boy Scout Story (Wailing Well); The Ash-Tree; Three months deadline (Casting the Runes); "Liber nigrae peregrinationis" (Count Magnus).

"Two strange ghost stories" Amsterdam: Verlag Munniksma 1988, translated by Harald Schablow Contents: A Neighbors' Landmark; Martin's enclosure (Martin's Close).

"The malice of inanimate things" Giessen: Private print Robert N. Bloch 2008, translated by Michael Siefener Contents: The Fenstanton Witch; An Evening Entertainment; Once upon a time there was a man who lives by a churchyard; The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance; The Experiment; A Vignette, A Night at King's College Chapel; After Dark in the Playing Fields; The Malice of Inanimate Objects.

In 2002 Festa Verlag published two more ghost stories in the anthology " Touchings of the Night " edited by Frank Rainer Scheck and Erik Hauser , which also documents numerous other stories from the James tradition.

TV adaptations and films

  • Night of the Demon , 1957 (US title: Curse of the Demon ; German title: Der Fluch des Demonen ); The template was " three months deadline " ( Casting the Runes )
  • Whistle and I'll Come to You , 1968
  • A Warning to the Curious , 1972

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed June 13, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME James, Montague Rhodes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES James, MR; James, Montague R.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British horror and fantasy author
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Goodnestone , Dover , Kent , England
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 1936
Place of death Eton , Berkshire , England