{{Short description|1911 ghost story by M.R. James}} {{for-multi|the A Ghost Story for Christmas film|The Tractate Middoth (film)|the tenth Mishnahic tractate of the Order of Kodashim|Middot (Talmud)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox short story <!--See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels--> | name = The Tractate Middoth | image = More Ghost Stories - MR James.jpg | caption = | author = M.R. James | country = England | language = English | series = | genre = Horror | published_in = ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' | publication_type = | publisher = Edward Arnold | media_type = | pub_date = 1911 | preceded_by = | followed_by = | wikisource = More Ghost Stories/The Tractate Middoth }} "'''The Tractate Middoth'''" is a short ghost story by the English author M. R. James. It was published in 1911 in ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'', James's second collection of ghost stories.
== Plot summary == Mr. Garrett, an employee of a university library,{{Notetag|Identified by Darryl Jones as the Cambridge University Library.<ref name="Jones"/>}} searches for a Mishnaic book - ''Talmud: Tractate Middoth, with the commentary of Nachmanides'' - for an impatient library patron named John Eldred. While searching, he encounters a black-clad clergyman who also seems interested in the book. The clergyman's appearance–his head appears to be enshrouded in cobwebs and he smells of mould and dust–causes Garrett a severe shock and he faints. He is sent home to recover and later decides to recuperate at the seaside.
On the train to his destination, he meets the elderly Mrs. Simpson and her daughter, proprietors of a boarding house who offer him lodgings. Over the course of his stay, they become very friendly. The Simpsons confide in him that they are losing a struggle with a rival heir to the estate of an eccentric clergyman named Rant, who died two decades earlier. As they describe the situation, Garrett realizes that John Eldred is the rival heir. The ''Tractate Middoth'' supposedly contains a hidden secret will and testament by Rant that would supersede an earlier version favouring Eldred. Garrett decides to help the Simpsons by preventing Eldred from destroying this document.
Returning to the library, he finds that the ''Tractate Middoth'' has been found already and shipped to Eldred at the Rant estate. He follows the book on another train, but arrives too late to stop Eldred from receiving the parcel. As he stalks Eldred back to the Rant mansion, he sees a dark form clutching a mass of cobwebs emerge from the shadows at the side of the road, whereupon Eldred drops dead. An inquest finds black dust on the dead man's face and in his mouth, but the real cause of death is heart failure. The ''Tractate Middoth'' becomes evidence. When it appears that Eldred had been tearing out a page when he died, the missing will is discovered and decrypted, written in a coded script that looks like Hebrew. By its terms, Mrs. Simpson inherits the estate formerly possessed by Eldred, and Garrett and her daughter marry.
== Publication == "The Tractate Middoth" was first published in ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1911. In 1931, it was collected in ''The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James.''<ref name="Joshi"/> It has since been anthologised many times, including in ''The Supernatural Reader'' in 1953.<ref name="ISFDB"/>
== Adaptations == {{also|The Tractate Middoth (2013 film)}}
On 7 May 1951, an American television adaptation of "The Tractate Middoth" was broadcast as "The Lost Will of Dr. Rant", as part of the ''Lights Out'' mystery series. It starred Leslie Nielsen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrjamespodcast.com/2012/04/episode-11-tractate-middoth/ |title=Episode 11 – The Tractate Middoth - A Podcast to the Curious |work=The M.R. James Podcast |accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0632373 |title="Lights Out" The Lost Will of Dr. Rant (TV Episode 1951) |work=IMDb |accessdate=28 May 2015}}{{unreliable source|date=September 2025}}</ref>
On 28 April 1959, it was adapted as "A Mass of Cobwebs" by Brian Batchelor for the BBC's ''Thirty-Minute Theatre''. It was produced by Robin Midgley and starred Peter Howell as William Garrett, with Edgar Norfolk as Eldred. It was first broadcast on the Light Programme on 28 April 1959 and received its first repeat 59 years later on 27 August 2018 on BBC Radio 4 Extra.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/57922df9b7964c0196f4ce36f75fec1f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229221253/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/57922df9b7964c0196f4ce36f75fec1f|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 December 2018|title=Thirty-Minute Theatre: Peter Howell in 'A Mass of Cobwebs'|date=1959-04-24|work=The Radio Times|access-date=2018-12-29|issue=1850|page=37|language=en-GB|issn=0033-8060}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jxyb|title=BBC Radio 4 Extra: M. R. James: A Mass of Cobwebs|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-12-29}}</ref><ref name="PardoeTVetc"/>
On 26 February 1966, a version of the story adapted by Dennis Webb was broadcast by ATV and Thames Television as part of the ''Mystery and Imagination'' series of ghost story adaptations. It starred Giles Block, David Buck, and John Crocker. The episode was wiped after broadcast, and only audio recordings are known to have survived.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296901/ |title="Mystery and Imagination" The Tractate Middoth (TV Episode 1966) |work=IMDb |accessdate=28 May 2015}}{{unreliable source|date=September 2025}}</ref>
On 25 December 2007, the story was read on BBC Radio 4 by Derek Jacobi as part of the ''M R James at Christmas'' series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008j3qz|title=15 Minute Drama, M R James at Christmas, The Tractate Middoth |work=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=28 May 2015}}</ref>
On 25 December 2013, a version of the story, ''The Tractate Middoth'', adapted by Mark Gatiss, was broadcast on BBC2 as part of the long-running ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' series. It starred Sacha Dhawan, John Castle, Louise Jameson, Una Stubbs, David Ryall, Eleanor Bron, Nick Burns, and Roy Barraclough.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-12-03/mark-gatiss-lands-christmas-day-treble-on-bbc2 |title=The Tractate Middoth and An Adventure in Space and Time to air on Christmas Day on BBC2 |first=Paul |last=Jones |work=Radio Times |accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-09-05/mark-gatiss-casts-sherlocks-una-stubbs-in-festive-ghost-story |title=Mark Gatiss casts Sherlock's Una Stubbs in festive ghost story |first=Emma |last=Daly |work=Radio Times |accessdate=28 May 2015}}</ref>
== Notes == {{Notefoot}}
== References == {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="ISFDB">{{cite web|url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?675449|title=The Tractate Middoth|work=Internet Speculative Fiction Database|access-date=17 October 2025}}</ref>
<ref name="Jones">{{cite book|title=Libraries in Literature|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780192855732|year=2022|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6WGEAAAQBAJ|author-link=|first=Darryl|last=Jones|chapter=M. R. James's Libraries|editor1-first=Alice|editor1-last=Crawford|editor2-first=Robert|editor2-last=Crawford}}</ref>
<ref name="Joshi">{{cite book|title=Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James|volume=1|contributor-first=S. T.|contributor-last=Joshi|contribution=Explanatory Notes|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143039396|page=277|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1X2fB1PoYIC|contributor-link=S. T. Joshi|author-link=M. R. James|first=M. R.|last=James}}</ref>
<ref name="PardoeTVetc">{{cite web |last=Pardoe |first=Rosemary |title=M.R. James on TV, radio and film |url=https://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/MediaList.html |access-date=13 April 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260221013233/https://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/MediaList.html |archive-date=21 February 2026 |date=2010 }}</ref>
}}
== External links == *{{wikisource-inline|single=true}} * {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/m-r-james/short-fiction|Display Name=An omnibus collection of James's short fiction|noitalics=true}} * {{ISFDB title|675449|short=yes}} *{{librivox book|title=The Tractate Middoth|author=M. R. James}} * {{cite web |url= http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/the-tractate-middoth-2013/ |title=The Tractate Middoth (2013) |first=Roger |last=Edwards |work=Contains Moderate Peril |date=29 November 2013 |accessdate=28 May 2015}}
{{Works of M.R. James}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tractate Middoth, The}} Category:1911 short stories Category:Horror short stories Category:Nachmanides Category:Short stories about ghosts Category:Short stories by M. R. James Category:Short stories adapted into television films Category:Short stories adapted into television shows Category:Short stories adapted into radio programs Category:British short stories adapted into films