Author Description
Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. Very Good, 1st Edition Oxford University Press, 1983. xiii, 268pp. Profuse illustrations from photographs. Very good clean tight sound square, no bookplate, inscriptions or ownership marks of any kind. In bright gilt lettered and illustrated brown cloth boards, together with original unclipped portrait pictorial dustwrapper featuring Straang's watercolour of Cambridge University to upper, and Gwendolyn McBryde's painted interpretation of the Ghost Stories of James to rear. Very slight rubbing to spine and upper leading corner, and the very lightest of pale foxing limited to top edges of leaves, visible only from above, not intruding in the least. Firmly held in joints and hinges, edges crisp. A great addition to the library of reader, scholar and collector alike.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This biography investigates the life, personality, and creative influences of M.R. James, the seminal author of English ghost stories. Michael Cox, a scholar of Jamesian literature, utilizes personal correspondence, archival photographs, and contemporary accounts to construct a portrait of the man behind the macabre fiction. The work argues that James's academic environment at Cambridge and his specific antiquarian interests provided the essential framework for his unique contributions to the supernatural genre.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Biographical details covering James's tenure at Cambridge and Eton
- Analysis of the intersection between his scholarly pursuits and his fiction
- Extensive photographic documentation and illustrations
Scope Limits
- Does not provide a comprehensive literary critique of every individual short story
- Focuses primarily on the personal life rather than a broad history of the ghost story genre
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and enthusiasts of M.R. James frequently cite this work as a foundational and accessible biographical resource. Experts highlight the author's ability to balance academic rigor with an engaging, informal narrative style.
Page Count:
268
Publication Date:
1983-01-01
ISBN-10:
0192117653
ISBN-13:
9780192117656
Biography
Horror
British literature
GHOST STORIES
Literary Criticism
SCHOLARS
Authors english