The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas is a Ghost story written by M.R. James. It was published in his book Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

Synopsis

The tale tells the story of Rev. Justin Somerton, a scholar of Medieval history, who tells a rector the tale of how, while searching an abbey library he found clues leading him to the hidden treasure of a disgraced abbot.

Adaptations

In 1974, the story was adapted as part the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas strand by John Bowen.^[1] It was first broadcast on 23 December 1974 at 11.35.^[2] The adaptation stars Michael Bryant as Somerton, and it was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.

In creating his adaptation, Bowen changed a number of elements of M.R. James's story, such as including another character, Lord Peter Dattering (Paul Lavers) as Somerton's protégé, with whom he shares his investigation. The story is not told in flashback, and also includes a scene in which Somerton exposes two fraudulent mediums, which acts as a demonstration of Somerton's rational approach to the supernatural.^[3]

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

External links

• A Warning to the Curious at bbc.co.uk.
• The Treasure of Abbot Thomas at the Internet Movie Database

Works of M.R. James Short Stories "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" "Lost Hearts" "The Mezzotint" "The Ash-tree" " Number 13" "Count Magnus" "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'" "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" "A School Story" " The Rose Garden" "The Tractate Middoth" "Casting the Runes" "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" "Martin's Close" "Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance" "A View from a Hill" "A Warning to the Curious" Collections Ghost Stories of an Antiquary More Ghost Stories A Thin Ghost and Others A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James Adaptions Night of the Demon Drag Me to Hell A Ghost Story for Christmas