John Ray, M.A., F.R.S. - the man

He was born on November 29, 1627 in Black Notley, near Braintree in Essex, where his father was the local blacksmith and his mother a healer and herbalist. The cottage where he was born, 7 Baker's Lane, is now listed Grade II. In 1644, at the age of 16,  he entered Catherine College, Cambridge and in 1646 transferred to Trinity College, where he graduated and was elected Fellow in 1649 . He was an energetic naturalist,  traveller, and author, but is famous for developing a complete classification of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, which was ultimately superceded by that of Linnaeus. Ray's reasoning and the development of his system of classification was based on observation and methodology rather than speculation. He thus became one of the most influential scientists of his time. John Ray died in Black Notley in 1705 and is buried at the village church.  His memorial stands at the head his grave in the churchyard. Although the lettering has been somewhat weathered by time and the elements, it can been seen inside the church on a plaque placed there by members of the Ray Society.

The Ray Society

Instituted in 1844 and named after John Ray, the 17th century naturalist, this is a scientific publishing charity whose activities are devoted mainly, though not exclusively, to the British flora and fauna. So far the Ray Society has published 166 volumes. For the most part, these are academic works which are of particular interest to naturalists, zoologists, botanists and collectors.

The Ray Society publishes books on natural history with special but not exclusive reference to the British flora and fauna. The Society's works are original monographs on particular groups and topics, facsimiles of historically important works and translations of existing works. Works or proposals for works may be submitted to the Honorary Secretary of the Society. These works should be complete treatments of a particular subject and should not form part of a series of works on a particular group or topic. Works which are being considered by the Society should not be under consideration elsewhere. Further details on submissions are available from the Honorary Secretary.

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Enquiries regarding membership should be addressed to:

Dr T. Ferrero, Honorary Secretary, The Ray Society, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.

Some examples of early Ray Society publications, digitized by Google, The Open Library and others, now in the public domain, are given below.

In order to access the complete book please click on a relevant title image