Welcome to The Ray Society
The Ray Society was founded by George Johnston in 1844 to honour the name of John Ray (1628-1705), one of the most eminent and influential naturalists of his time. Ray published works on birds, mammals, fish, insects and plants, bringing order to the chaotic mass of names in use by contemporary naturalists.
The Ray Society is not about John Ray himself but exists to publish books on natural history with special, but not exclusive reference to the flora and fauna of the British Isles. To date, 178 volumes have been published.
Membership Subscriptions are now overdue!
Subscriptions are due on the 1st January of each year. If your membership is not up to date, you will not be able to order books at cancessionary prices.
Please support the Ray Society even if you do not want to buy books immediately. All the subsriptions go towards publishing new volumes, which would not otherwise be available.
Volume 181 Francis Hamilton's Gangetic Fishes in colour, edited, with introduction and commentary by Ralf Britz.
This magnificent and very heavy volume, no. 181, is now available to order from the web site.
Retail price is £150 + £9 p&p. It is available to members at the concessionary price of £80 + £9 p&p. Members' price to purchase more than one copy is £120.
Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles, Volumes 1 and 2, by George R Else and Mike Edwards
This volume, number 180 is available now to order from the web site.
Retail price is £150 + £9 p&p. It is available to members at the concessionary price of £80 + £9 p&p. Members' price to purchase more than one copy is £120.
Latest Publications
Volume 181. Francis Hamilton's Gangetic Fishes in colour, edited, with introduction and commentary by Ralf Britz Francis Hamilton-Buc...
Volume 180. Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles. George R. Else and Mike Edwards ‘Bees of the British Isles’ provides a comprehen...
Volume 179. Charles Parish– Plant Hunter and Botanical Artist in Burma. Dudley Clayton Charles Samuel Pollock Parish (1822-1897) se...
"Volume 171: Rifle-Green by Nature. A Regency Naturalist and his Family, William Elford Leach. K.Harrison and E.Smith. 2008." ...
"Volume 169: The historical ecology of the River Arun and its beaches at Littlehampton, West Sussex: 1000 years of change. B. Morton. 2008."...
Ray Society volumes are available to members at very reduced prices. Concessionary sales, limited to one per member are usually about half the retail price. Further sales to members are 20% off the retail price. There is a standard charge of £9 p&p per order on all sales.
Membership of the Society
Membership costs £10 per year and entitles members to purchase a copy of each volume at the members' concessionary price. Other volumes are available at 20% discount. Special offers, for members only, appear on the web site several times a year.