M. R. James (1862-1936), best known as a writer of chilling ghost stories, was an outstanding scholar of medieval literature and palaeography, who served both as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum. His detailed descriptive catalogues of manuscripts owned by colleges, cathedrals and museums are still of value to scholars today. This two-volume catalogue, first published in 1921, was commissioned as the fourth in a series of guides to the collection of Oriental and Western manuscripts in the John Rylands Library. It describes 183 Latin rolls and codices dating from the sixth to the nineteenth century, their material, dimensions, structure, provenance, decoration and content. Volume 1 contains the text, and Volume 2 consists of 187 plates, illustrating a wide range of scripts, decorations and covers. James' book is still sought after and this reissue will be welcomed by librarians and researchers alike.
