Gordon Norton Ray (8 September 1915, New York City – 15 December 1986, Manhattan) was an American author, professor of English, and collector of English and French illustrated books and autographed letters from the Victorian era.

Biography

Ray graduated from

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in Northfield, Illinoi ...

in Winnetka in 1932, Indiana University with A.B. and A.M. in 1936, and graduated and from Harvard University with A.M. in 1938 and Ph.D. in 1940. His doctoral thesis on Thackeray has the title ''Thackeray in France''. Ray was an instructor in English at Harvard University from 1940 to 1942 and then in 1942 enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an apprentice seaman. He saw combat on aircraft carriers in the Pacific and was promoted to lieutenant with seven battle stars. Ray wrote of his WW II service: At the University of Illinois, he was a professor of English from 1946 to 1957, also serving as head of the English department, and vice president and provost from 1957 to 1960. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic years 1941–1942, 1942–1943, 1945–1946, and 1956–1957. He was from 1960 to 1963 the associate secretary general and from 1963 to 1985 the president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He became a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1962 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1977. Ray was a professor of English at New York University from 1962 to 1980, when he retired as professor emeritus. In 1945 and 1946 Harvard University Press published his 4-volume work ''The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepeace Thackeray.'' Thackeray's heirs released to Ray additional materials (previously unavailable), enabling him to publish two more biographies, ''Thackeray: The Uses of Adversity, 1811-1846'' (1955) and ''Thackeray: The Age of Wisdom, 1847-1863'' (1957). At Manhattan's

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th ...

, Ray's private collections were the main source for two exhibitions: ''The Illustrator and the Book in England, 1790-1914'' (exhibited in 1976) and ''The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 1700 to 1914'' (exhibited in 1982). At the

Low Memorial Library The Low Memorial Library (nicknamed Low) is a building at the center of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building, located near 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Aven ...

on the Columbia campus, his collections formed one of the main sources of a Benjamin Disraeli exhibition in 1981. Upon his death, he had no immediate surviving family members.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Gordon Norton 1915 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American naval officers American biographers American male non-fiction writers Writers from New York City Indiana University alumni Harvard University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Illinois faculty New York University faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society New Trier High School alumni