For years, we’ve been fascinated by literary manuscripts and what they reveal about how stories were written and evolved into the tales we all know and love. Fortunately, many of M.R. James’s ghost story manuscripts survive, but it has been hard for many of us to see them, until now

Crumpled Linen Press is a small independent publisher formed to print annotated facsimile autograph manuscript editions of MRJ’s ghost stories. Each book will be a signed and numbered limited edition hardback with dustjacket and illustrated throughout.

The first in the series is ‘Oh, Whistle’, which we are publishing with the kind permission of King’s School, Canterbury (who hold the manuscript) and the good wishes of Philip A.R. James.

In addition to a complete reproduction of MRJ’s handwritten text and transcription, the book includes: a foreword by Pulitzer prize winning journalist Michael Dirda; a scholarly introduction by Paul M. Chapman and Mark Jones; a fully annotated version of the first edition text by Jamesian scholars; extended commentary from the contributors; and new commissioned artwork.

Our fantastic contributions include first rate Jamesian scholars Jim Bryant, Peter Bell, T.W. Burgess, Brian Jay Corrigan, Jon Dear, Helen Grant, Darryl Jones, Robert Lloyd Parry, Roger Luckhurst, James Machin, Rosemary Pardoe, Edward G Pettit, and Mark Valentine. The cover is provided by the superb Sarah Coomer and new internal illustrations by award-winning artist Robert Hack.

And this is just the start. The Haunted Archive is a multi-volume project, and we are already planning the second book. We’ve been delighted by the support from archives and collections including Eton and King’s who are allowing us to bring their manuscripts to a wider audience.

We’re going to be running a Kickstarter in the very near future, which is how you can get your copy. In the meantime, please subscribe to our mailing list so we can keep you up to date with developments.