Ray Society Explained

The Ray Society is a scientific text publication society that publishes works devoted principally to British flora and fauna. As of 2019, it had published 181 volumes. Its publications are predominantly academic works of interest to naturalists, zoologists, botanists and collectors.

The society was founded in 1844, largely on the initiative of George Johnston and named after the naturalist John Ray (1627–1705). It is based at the Natural History Museum, London, and is a registered charity under English law.

Publications

The Ray Society's publications are concerned with natural history, and have special but not exclusive reference to British flora and fauna. They include original monographs on particular groups and topics, facsimiles of historically important volumes and translations of existing works.

During Charles Darwin's lifetime, the Ray Society published not only Darwin's two volumes on living barnacles (1851 and 1854) but also the work of many of the foremost British naturalists: Thomas Henry Huxley, William Crawford Williamson, John Blackwall, Albert Günther, James Scott Bowerbank, etc.^[1]

Recent publications have included:

• Book: The Historical Ecology of the River Arun and its Beaches at Littlehampton, West Sussex: 1000 years of change . Morton . B. . Ray Society . 169 . London . 2008 . 9780903874403 .
• Book: Malpighi, Marcello . Marcello Malpighi

. De Gallis – On Galls . Marcello Malpighi . Margaret . Redfern . Alexander J. . Cameron . Kevin . Down . Ray Society . 170 . London . 2008 . 9780903874410 .

• Book: . Harrison . Keith . Smith . Eric . Ray Society . 171 . London . 2008 . 9780903874359 .
• Book: A Monograph on some British Desmids: order Zygnematales, suborder Zygnemoidiineae, family Zygnemataceae, subfamily Mesotaenioideae (Saccoderm Desmids) and suborder Closteriineae, family Peniaceae and family Closteriaceae . Alan J. . Brook . David B. . Williamson . Price . J. H. . Evans . Nicholas J. . Ray Society . 172 . London . 2010 . 9780903874427 .
• Book: John Ray's Cambridge Catalogue (1660) . Oswald . P. H. . Preston . C. D. . Ray Society . 173 . 2011 . 9780903874434 .
• Book: Fauna Cantabrigiensis: the Vertebrate and Molluscan Fauna of Cambridgeshire by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns (1800–1893): Transcript and Commentaries . Preece . R. . Sparks . T. . Ray Society . 174 . London . 2012 . 9780903874441 .
• Book: Jackson, Christine E. . Menageries in Britain, 1100–2000 . Ray Society . 175 . London . 2014 . 9780903874458 .
• Book: Ray, John . John Ray

. Methodus plantarum nova (1682) . John Ray . Stephen A. . Nimis . Kathleen . Tschantz Unroe . Michael A. . Vincent . Ray Society . 176 . London . 2014 . 9780903874465 .

• Book: Linnaeus, Carl . Carl Linnaeus

. Linnaeus Species Plantarum 1753 (Facsimile: Volume 1) . W. T. . Stearn . C. E. . Jarvis . Carl Linnaeus . Ray Society . 177 . London . 2013 . 9780903874472 .

• Book: Linnaeus, Carl . Carl Linnaeus

. Linnaeus Species Plantarum 1753 (Facsimile: Volume 2) . C. E. . Jarvis . J. L. . Heller . W. T. . Stearn . Carl Linnaeus . Ray Society . 178 . London . 2013 . 9780903874489 .

• Book: Clayton, Dudley . Charles Parish: plant hunter and botanical artist in Burma . Ray Society . 179 . London . 2017 . 9780903874502 .
• Book: Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles . George R. . Else . Mike . Edwards . Ray Society . 180 . London . 2018 . 978-0-903874-51-9 . (in 2 volumes)
• Book: Francis Hamilton's Gangetic Fishes in Colour: a new edition of the 1822 monograph, with reproductions of unpublished coloured illustrations . Ralf . Britz . Ray Society . 181 . London . 2019 . 978-0-903874-52-6 .

A complete list of all volumes is available on the Society's website.

Collections

University College London holds 150 items published by the Ray Society, a near complete set of works between 1844 and 1996.^[2]

External links

• • Ray Society publications at University College London

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=QtlLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA116 List of the Annual Volumes of the Ray Society, from their Commencement, in 1844, to August, 1880
2. Web site: UCL Special Collections . 2020-04-23 . Ray Society . 2023-12-18 . UCL Special Collections . en.