Although it is possible to find copies of "The Purple Sapphire", later published as "The Selected Strange Papers of Christopher Blayre", his two later volumes of short stories, are impossibly rare. "The Cheetah-Girl", withdrawn at the time on grounds of obscenity, was subsequently issued in a limited edition of only 20. Similarly, only 100 copies of "Some Women of the University" were published. These "strange papers", deposited with the fictional Christopher Blayre, Registrar of the University of Cosmopoli, are the weird and supernatural experiences of the professorial staff of the University. By contrast, the Cambridge dons of M.R. James lead sheltered and uneventful lives. "The Collected Strange Papers" brings together the contents of all three volumes for the first time. The individual stories are: The Purple Sapphire, The House of the Way to Hell, Aalila, The Mirror that Remembered, Purpura Lapillus, Mano Pantea, The Thing that Smelt, The Blue Cockroach, The Man Who Killed the Jew, The Demon, The Book, The Cosmic Dust, The Cheetah Girl, "Zum Wildbad", The Boots, Another Squaw?, Passiflora Vindicta.
