Website history

The Thomas Gray Archive is currently updated twice a year, in the Spring and Autumn. In between these major updates, versioned corrections and revisions of the pages take place continuously. Please follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or Facebook to receive the latest news and updates: all posts will have a #ThomasGrayArchive hashtag.

Revision history of this website

• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2024 update
  • We have added five examples of Gray's "Elegy" as an addition to Robert Blair's "The Grave" to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1772: The Grave. A poem. By Robert Blair. The seventh edition. To which is added, An elegy written in a country church-yard, by Mr. Gray. Boston: Re-printed by John Boyles [i.e., Boyle], for James Foster Condy ... MDCCLXXII. [1772.]
          [54 colour page images; see Northup 517, ESTC W19868.]
    • 1790: The Grave, a poem: altered into rhime [by Henry Lemoine] from the blank verse, of R. Blair. To which is added, Gray's celebrated Elegy, written in a country church-yard. London: Printed by R. Hawes ... For the Editor, H. Lemoine ... MDCCXC. [1790.]
          [42 colour page images; see Northup 543, ESTC T35814.]
    • 1799: The Grave, a poem, by Robert Blair With a life of the author & prefatory notes on the poem; to which is added Gray's Elegy written in a country church yard. Perth: Published by James Morison and sold by Will. Morison... 1799.
          [67 colour page images; see ESTC N18308, not in Northup or Starr.]
    • 1816: The Grave, a poem. To which are added Gray's Elergy written in a country church-yard and Parnell's Hermit. With biographical notices of the authors from Dr. Anderson's edition of the British poets. Edinburgh: Printed by W. Blair for J. Dick, ... 1816.
          [120 colour page images.]
    • 1837: The Grave and other select poems on the common lot of man. Boston: Published by Isaac Knapp. ... 1837.
          [62 colour page images.]
  • We are pleased to announce the availability of a rhyme-index to the complete English poems of Thomas Gray.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated for 2023.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2023 update
  • We have added three pre-1800 editions of Gray's poems to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1794: A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain. Volume the Tenth. Containing Young, Gray,... The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, Royal Bank Close. 1794.
          [51 colour page images; see Northup 79, ESTC T2891.]
    • 1796: Poems by Thomas Gray; ... To which is prefixed A Sketch of the Author's Life. Manchester, Printed at the Office of G. Nicholson, No. 9, Spring-gardens. ... 1796.
          [24 colour page images; see Northup 206, ESTC T173278.]
    • 1799: Poems by Thomas Gray, LL.B. ... With the Life of the Author. [Ludlow]: Printed and sold by George Nicholson, College, Ludlow... 1799.
          [64 colour page images; see Northup 83, ESTC N11878.]
  • We are delighted to announce the start of a new 24-month project at the Thomas Gray Archive: Gray's "Elegy" in translation (phase II). This second phase of the project covers the period 1806-1850, and will add over 50 translations (taking the total number of available translations to over 100), including translations in five additional languages: Armenian, Hebrew, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovene. The overall aim of the project remains unchanged: to trace the reception and impact of Gray's most famous poem, the "Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard" (1751), in a number of languages and national literatures.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or Facebook: all posts will have a #ThomasGrayArchive hashtag. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2023 update
  • We have added three pre-1780 editions of Gray's poems to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1770: Poems by Mr. Gray. A new edition. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, ... MDCCLXX.
          [136 colour page images; see Northup 57, ESTC T55124.]
    • 1779: The Works of the English Poets. With Prefaces, biographical and critical, by Samuel Johnson. Vol 56 [Lyttelton, West, Gray]. London: printed by J. Rivington ; ... M DCC LXXIX.
          [392 colour page images; see Northup 194, ESTC T92171.]
    • 1779: Poems by Mr. Gray. With a Biographical and Critical Account of the Author. London: Sold by R. Tomlins, ... MDCCLXXIX.
          [177 colour page images; see Northup 67, ESTC N11840.]
  • We are excited to present An Exploratory Tour of Thomas Gray's English poems, our first experiment with the Voyant Tools-powered Spyral notebook environment for the study of Gray's poetry. Spyral notebooks provide a dynamic environment for extending literary text analysis: they can be thought of both as extensions of traditional research notebooks and as novel tools that integrate active analysis and presentation of results, a mix of analytical code and textual explanations that enables hybrid computationally-augmented analyses and interpretations.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated for 2022.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2022 update
  • We have added four Scottish editions of Gray's poems to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1777: A Collection of the English Poets, ... , in twenty volumes. Volume XVI. Poems by Mr. Gray. Aberdeen: Printed for, and sold by J. BOYLE. M.DCC.LXXVII.
          [67 colour images; ESTC T215986.]
    • 1779: POEMS by Mr. GRAY. Edinburgh: Printed and sold by Gavin Alston. M.DCC.LXXIX.
          [121 colour images; ESTC T478526.]
    • 1782: POEMS by Mr. GRAY. Glasgow: Printed and sold by Andrew Foulis, printer to the University. M.DCC.LXXXII.
          [60 colour images; ESTC T106331.]
    • 1787: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. Glasgow: Printed by Andrew Foulis, printer to the University. M.DCC.LXXXVII.
          [172 colour images; ESTC T114639.]
  • A correspondence network visualization, which shows some of the major topics of conversation between Gray and his correspondents in an interactive network graph, is now available.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2022 update
  • We have added editions of Bentley's Designs and the Elegy to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1775: Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for six Poems by Mr. T. Gray. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, MDCCLXXV.
          [112 colour page images; see Northup 191. Includes Gray's Odes (1757)]
    • 1775: An Elegy written in a Country Church Yard. A new edition. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall MDCCLXXV.
          [16 colour page images; see Northup 521.]
    • 1796: Poems, moral, elegant and pathetic: viz. Essay on man, by Pope; The monk of La Trappe, by Jerningham; The grave by Blair; An elegy in a country churchyard, by Gray; The hermit of Warkworth, by Percy; and original sonnets, by Helen Maria Williams. [Gray's Elegy only.] London: Printed for E. Newbery, ... and Vernor and Hood, 1796.
          [18 colour page images; see Northup 552.]
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated for 2021.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2021 update
  • We are delighted to announce a streamlined and much improved Archive search engine, with state-of-the-art faceting and full-text search capabilities. The translations compiled for the Gray's "Elegy" in translation-project and Gray's complete correspondence are now searchable in the Archive for the first time.
  • We are excited to have joined 18thConnect, making all of the Archive's primary and secondary resources discoverable alongside a host of high-quality digital scholarly resources in eighteenth-century studies.
  • The Gray holdings at Pembroke College, Cambridge, have recently been re-catalogued and are now available in a new finding aid. We have updated our records accordingly.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2021 update
  • We have added four translations of the Elegy to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1782: Elegia di Tommaso Gray poeta inglese per esso scritta in un cimitero campestre tradotta in versi italiani e ristampata da Agostino Isola mastero di lingua italiana nell' Universita di Cambridge. Sold by the Editor, and J. Deighton, Bookseller, in Cambridge. MDCCLXXXII.
          [20 colour page images; see Northup 799.]
    • 1782: Elegy written in a country church-yard. By Mr. Gray. And translated into Italian verse By J. Giannini, L.L. D. London: Printed for, and sold by, the Translator, ... M DCC LXXXII.
          [24 colour page images; see Northup 800.]
    • 1785: Aristotelis de poetica liber, textu Gulstoniano; cum praelectione, versione, et notis editoris, Gulielmi Cooke, A. M. Accedit Elegia Grayiana graece. [Elegy only.] Cantabrigiae, Typis Academicis excudebat J. Archdeacon. ... MDCCLXXXV.
          [12 colour page images; see Northup 784.]
    • 1830: Poésies anglaises. Beattie, Rogers, Campbell, Southey, Goldsmith, Gray, Montgomery, Wordsworth, Kirke White, Moss, Carter. Traduction nouvelle, avec notices. Par MM. J.B.A. Soulié et E. Henrion. [Gray only.] Paris. Bureau de la Bibliotheque Choisie, ... 1830.
          [18 colour page images; see Northup 763.]
    We have also supplemented many existing b/w editions with colour versions.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated for 2020.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2020 update
  • We have added two new editions of Gray's works published by John Murray to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1778: POEMS by Mr. GRAY. A new edition. London: Printed for J. Murray, no. 32, Fleet Street. MDCCLXXVIII.
          [158p.; see Northup 65; ESTC N11839]
    • 1786: POEMS. By Mr. Gray. A new edition. London: Printed for J. Murray, (No. 32.) Fleet-Street. MDCCLXXXVI.
          [178p.; see Northup 70; ESTC T132351]
    These complement the already available 1776 Murray edition, which sparked a copyright controversy and prompted Murray's 1777 open letter to William Mason.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2020 update
  • The Thomas Gray Archive is delighted to announce adoption of state-of-the-art image viewer OpenSeadragon to underpin its digital library. Part of a cautious rejuvenation programme coinciding with our 20th online anniversary, we look forward to the greater flexibility and enhanced user experience offered by the new viewer moving forward.
  • We have added new versions of two key editions of Gray's works to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1768: POEMS by Mr. GRAY. London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall. M DCC LXVIII.
          [141p.; 1st ed., see Northup 52; ESTC T136298]
    • 1775: The POEMS of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed, Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason, M.A. Dublin: printed for D. Chamberlaine, J. Potts, ... MDCCLXXV.
          [550p.; pirated, see Northup 15; ESTC T125261]
  • The Thomas Gray Archive celebrates 20 years online this year. Occasion, once again, to say a big "THANK YOU!" to all our users, supporters, and contributors over the years. Guided by its mission "to facilitate collaboration and to support the study, research, and teaching of Gray's life and works", the Archive continues to reach out to readers of Gray, old and new, around the world.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2019 update
  • We have added seven Latin translations of Gray's poems to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1762: ELEGIA scripta in COEMETERIO RUSTICO Latinè Reddita. [By Christopher Anstey and William Hayward Roberts.] Cantabrigiæ: Typis Academicis excudebat J. Bentham. ... M.DCC.LXII. [1762.]
          [20p., page images; see Northup 820.]
    • 1775: THE BARD. A Pindaric Poem, by MR. GRAY. Translated into Latin verse. [By R. Williams, rector of Machynlleth.] Chester: Printed by Poole, Barker, and Co. in Foregate-street. M.DCC.LXXV. [1775.]
          [28p., page images; see Northup 409.]
    • 1775: ODE PINDARICA, pro Cambriæ vatibus, Latino carmine reddita. [By Edward Burnaby Greene.] Cantabrigiae, MDCCLXXV. Prostat venalis apud Richardum Matthews, Bibliopolam. [1775.]
          [14p., page images; see Northup 434.]
    • 1776: ELEGIA in Cæmeterio Rustico scripta, Numeris Elegiacis Latinè Reddita. [By Gilbert Wakefield.] London: Printed for J. Nicholson, in Cambridge; ... MDCCLXXVI. ... [1776.]
          [26p., page images; see Northup 825.]
    • 1778: ELEGIA scripta in COEMETERIO RUSTICO A. Thoma Gray Latinè Reddita. [By Christopher Anstey and William Hayward Roberts.] Londini: Prostant vanales apud J. Dodsley, Pall-Mall. M.DCC.LXXVIII. [1778.]
          [20p., page images; see Northup 820.]
    • 1786: Elegia Scripta in Sepulchreto Rustico, Latine Reddita. &c. [By J. Wright.] London: Veneunt apud T. Lewis, in vico dicto, Russell-Street, et B. White, Fleet-Street. M,DCC,LXXXVI. [1786.]
          [24p., page images; see Northup 826.]
    • 1791: Poesie Inglesi di Alessandro Pope di Jacopo Thompson di Tommaso Gray con la traduzione in varie lingue. [Italian by Ab. Cesarotti, Latin by Joanne Costa.] [Venice]: [s.n.], MDCCXCI. [1791.]
          [27p., page images; see Northup 544.]
  • A prototype knowledge model, entitled Thomas Gray's Old Norse and Welsh imitations: towards the making of a literary history, based on Semantic Web and Knowledge Graph technologies is now available in the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive. It is based on Joshua Swidzinski's 2015 article "Uncouth Rhymes: Thomas Gray, Prosody, and Literary History", Studies in Philology 112(4) (Fall 2015), 837-861, here 837-839.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2019 update
  • We have added two translations of Gray's collected Poems—one into Italian (1784), the other into French (1798)—to the Archive's digital library:
    • 1784: Poesie Liriche di Gray, trasportate dall'inglese nel verso italiano dal Dr. M. Lastri. Firenze: Nella Stamperia di Francesco Moücke MDCCLXXXIV [1784].
          [112p., page images; see Northup 352.]
    • 1798: Poésies de Gray. A Paris, chez LEMIERRE, ..., An VI. [1798]
          [188p., page images; see Northup 81.]
  • A brief reflection on last year's Gray's "Elegy" in translation-project (phase I: 1751-1805) has been published on Oxford's Creative Multilingualism research programme blog.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the Archive's complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2018 update
  • We have made a number of improvements to the letters database, among them the addition of markers in the full-text to highlight the existence of textual and/or editorial notes in print editions (direct links to the print editions are available at the bottom of the record panel of the letters), as well as the addition of further subject indices to the search interface (poems, authors, and places referred to in the letters). To add your own notes/queries to the letters (subject to the usual peer review process), simply hold the ALT key and click on any word or highlight a selection (this annotation feature is available for all full-texts in the Archive).
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2018 update
  • Delighted to announce the completion of our Gray's "Elegy" in translation-project (phase I: 1751-1805). 57 translations in eleven languages, all marked up in TEI/XML, are now ready for exploration and comparative study. The project home page has links to all the translations, a complete bibliography, further information on the project, a help page, and a list of lacunae. Please send any feedback about the usability of the interface or suggestions for improvements, additions, or collaboration to the editor.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive is now also listed as a dataset in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA).
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2017 update
  • Our Gray's "Elegy" in translation-project (phase I: 1751-1805) is taking shape: 58 translations (46 of which in verse) in eleven languages (Danish, French, German, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh) all marked up in TEI/XML. Between now and April we will be concentrating on the user interface, including dynamic side-by-side display, an annotation, editing, and translation tool, and the integration of external services supporting comparative analysis. Please take a look at our updated project description.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2017 update
  • We are delighted to announce the start of a new 12-month project at the Thomas Gray Archive: Gray's "Elegy" in translation. The aim of this project is to trace the reception and impact of Gray's most famous poem, the "Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard" (1751), in a number of languages and national literatures.
  • We have simplified the way notes and queries can be added to the poems in the Thomas Gray Archive. You can add notes or queries to any part of the poetic text by simply clicking on the line in question and filling in the annotations form with your details. All contributions will continue to be submitted to the editor in the first instance for review.
  • All data supporting this research are now also available for download from our GitHub page.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Winter 2016 update
  • We have completed the Digital edition of Thomas Gray's letters project. Gray's correspondence is now available in a new standards-based full-text edition. The new edition includes improvements to the bibliographic records, such as consistent recording of postmarks, locations of authors and addressees, and updated information on people, locations, and events mentioned.
  • We have shared the metadata of our new full-text letters edition with correspSearch, a project of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. correspSearch is a standards-based search interface to a growing number of scholarly editions of letters.
  • In celebration of the tercentenary of Gray's birth, we have given our Website a facelift with a few updates, but no changes in functionality. Let us know what you think!
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2016 update
  • Gray's English poems are now also available in the newly launched Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive, which includes a wealth of analytical results across multiple layers (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic).
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Winter 2015 update
  • We have started work on the new digital edition of Gray's letters (based on the new TEI/XML guidelines for encoding correspondences). Alongside the availability of full-text for all letters, the new edition will also include improvements to the records, such as consistent recording of postmarks, locations of authors and addressees, and updated information on people, locations, and events mentioned.
  • We have added a Gray at 300 section on the home page, where we will post any news about events, talks, and exhibitions celebrating Gray's enduring legacy during the 2016 tercentenary year.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Autumn 2015 update
  • With Gray's 300th birthday approaching fast, we have been making our own preparations to celebrate his lasting legacy over the course of next year. Here is what we have planned so far:
    • New digital edition of Gray's letters (based on the new TEI/XML guidelines for encoding correspondences),
    • Continuation of the "Close reading Gray, digitally"-project with a focus on enriching information across multiple analytical layers (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic),
    • Expansion of the finding aid to include Gray's prose works.
  • All external links on the Related Links page have been verified.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Summer 2015 update
  • We are pleased to announce the completion of our collaborative project with the Cultures of Knowledge research project. The aim of the project was to make the Archive's calendar of Gray's correspondence discoverable and usable in the Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO) union catalogue of correspondence from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Gray's correspondence is now available in EMLO and he will be joined over the coming year by numerous other eighteenth-century correspondents.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Spring 2015 update
  • Looking back: This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Thomas Gray Archive, which was launched after a nine months project phase on 15 November 2000. Six completed projects and almost 60 quarterly updates later, the Archive's mission to facilitate and support the study, research, and teaching of Gray's life and works remains central to our work. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank colleagues here at Oxford and elsewhere and our many visitors worldwide for their continuing support and contributions.
  • Looking ahead: 2016 will mark the 300th birthday of the poet Thomas Gray, who was born on 26 December 1716. There have already been notable successes in the run-up to the 2016 tercentenary: the Stoke Poges Society has successfully secured funding to restore Gray's tomb and monument in Stoke Poges and is running an annual poetry competition to celebrate Gray's lasting legacy. Events, celebrations, and exhibitions are also planned in Cambridge and London. At the Archive we are preparing a project that aims to enhance access to Gray's Nachlass.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback, ideas, or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: December 2014 update
  • The Close reading Gray, digitally project has been successfully completed. A brief summary of our work and findings is available on the projects page. The project results are accessible via the new "Analysis"-tab on the English poems' pages, e.g. "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College".
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: September 2014 update
  • We have added two early Scottish editions of Gray's collected Poems, first published in 1768, to the Archive's digital library:
    • Poems by Mr. Gray. Glasgow: Printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis Printers to the University M.DCC.LXXIII. (ESTC T173112)
    • Poems by Mr. Gray. Edinburgh: Printed for J. Balfour and W. Creech. M,DCC,LXXIII. (ESTC T144910)
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated. New related links added and all links verified.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: June 2014 update
  • We have added the three earliest Irish editions of Gray's collected Poems, first published by James Dodsley (London) and Robert and Andrew Foulis (Glasgow) in 1768, to the Archive's digital library:
    • Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin: printed by William Sleater in Castle-street, 1768 (ESTC T55692)
    • Poems by Mr. T. Gray. Cork: printed by William Flyn, for E. Swiney, J. Bardin, T. White, & W. Flyn. M.DCC.LXVIII. (ESTC T60059)
    • Poems by Thomas Gray. Dublin: printed by Thomas Ewing, Capel-Street. M.DCC.LXXI. (ESTC N11877)
  • In the context of the Close reading Gray, digitally project, we have been collaborating with the Oxford Visual Informatics Lab (OVii) to include Gray's English poems in their Poem Viewer visualization service. The poems are now permanently available in the tool (e.g. Gray's Elegy). We have also added links to the Poem Viewer visualizations on the poems' pages in the Archive.
  • New related links added and all links verified.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to the Archive's RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
• Thomas Gray Archive: March 2014 update
  • The Archive's copy of the two-volume third edition of William Mason's Memoirs (1807) has been added to the digital library. It joins SUB Göttingen's copy of a first edition (1775) already available.
  • Half-way through the Close reading Gray, digitally project (a more detailed update is available there), the main focus of work has been on the workflows that facilitate the representation, integration, and exchangeability of a heterogeneous, multi-layered body of linguistic features derived from Gray's poems. We have also begun work on the automatic detection of a number of rhetorical figures, starting with phonological and morphological ones.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated. New related links added and all links verified.
  • Two reviews of the Archive have recently been published:
    • Parker, Kate. "Poetry Archives on the Web: Thomas Gray Archive, The Poetry of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1800: An Electronic Database of Titles, Authors, and First Lines, and The Poetess Archive". ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830 3.2 (November 2013): article 6. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. <http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/abo/vol3/iss2/6>
    • Wilkinson, Hazel. "Thomas Gray Archive". Criticks. British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 23 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.bsecs.org.uk/criticks-reviews/thomas-gray-archive/>
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow the Archive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to its RSS feed for the latest updates. See also the complete revision and update history.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (December 2013)
  • We have made two new additions to the Archive's digital library: Robert Dodsley's anonymously published 1747 edition (ESTC T41948) of Gray's Eton ode in full-text and Thomas Kirgate's reprint (1797?, ESTC N13888) of David Garrick's complimentary verses To Mr. Gray, on his Odes, first published anonymously in the London Chronicle for Oct. 1 1757 and printed by Walpole at Strawberry Hill on Oct. 17 1757 (60 copies), also in full-text.
  • We have embarked on a new collaboration with the Cultures of Knowledge research project. The aim is to make the Archive's calendar of Gray's correspondence discoverable and usable in the project's Early Modern Letters Online (EMLO) union catalogue of correspondence from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. We will post any updates on our social media feeds.
  • One third of the way through our Close reading Gray, digitally project, we have already completed a number of important tasks, including the prosodic analysis and classification of poetic form of Gray's English poems, the application of several NLP tasks, and the phonetic transcription of the poems. These are essential steps towards a computationally facilitated analysis of rhythm and poetic foregrounding, tropes and figures, sonic patterns, clusters, and breaking points, and various visualization options for our findings.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated. New related links added and all links verified.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. Or why not follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest updates. If you are attending the 43rd Annual BSECS conference, 8th-10th January 2014, St. Hugh's College, Oxford, feel free to get in touch with the editor to arrange a meeting.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (September 2013)
  • The Archive's copy of an Eton College presentation volume of Poems and Letters by Thomas Gray (1879 [1st ed. 1863]) has been added to the digital library. The volume is prefixed with a presentation leaf dated 1884 and signed by James John Hornby, Head Master of Eton College (1868-1884).
  • A list of projects that are planned, underway or have been completed at the Thomas Gray Archive is now available. It includes a description of our latest project, Close reading Gray, digitally. We will also post regular updates on our social media feeds.
  • The Archive's finding aid and Gray bibliography have been updated. All related links have been verified.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. If you are attending the Bill Overton Memorial Conference on Eighteenth-Century Poetry, 18-19 September 2013, Loughborough University, please feel free to get in touch with the editor to arrange a meeting.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (June 2013)
  • Three Greek translations of the Elegy, by J. Norbury (Elegeia Thomæ Gray, græcè reddita [1793, ESTC T71248]), B. E. Sparke (Elegeia Thomæ Gray græce reddita [1794, ESTC T71254]), and Charles Coote (Τη̂ς ἐλεγείας, ́̔ην Θωμα̂ς Γραι̂ος ... εν κοιμητηρίῳ ἀγροίκῳ ἐζέχυσε μετάφρασις ἑλληνική [1794, ESTC T71253]) respectively, have been added to the digital library. They join the Greek translation by Edward Tew (1795, ESTC T71252) already available in the Archive. See also Thomas Turk's recent article "Search and Rescue: An Annotated Checklist of Translations of Gray's Elegy" (DOI 10.3366/tal.2013.0099), 58-59.
  • Two digital images of Gray's baptismal font [1, 2] in St. Michael's Cornhill have been added to the gallery. Images courtesy of Bill Roberts.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (March 2013)
  • The Archive's copy of Thomas James Mathias' two-volume edition of The Works of Thomas Gray (1814) is available in the digital library. The bibliographies of the letters included in the edition have been updated in the letters section. The prose works first printed in vol. 2 of the edition have been added to the prose works section.
  • Two new manuscripts from the Folger Shakespeare Library have been added to the Archive's finding aid. Nine work and manuscript records have been updated.
  • An image of the plaque outside 39 Cornhill, London, erected in 1918 to the memory of Thomas Gray has been added to the gallery. The plaque was sculpted by F. W. Pomeroy (1856-1924) in 1917.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography and links to related resources have been updated.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor.
  
  
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (December 2012)
  • The Archive's copy of Richard Bentley's Designs (1753), a second edition according to Hazen, 42 (ESTC T75219), is available in the digital library. This full-colour version joins the black&white version of the Bodleian's copy of a first edition already available.
  • The Archive's Gray bibliography has been updated. In addition to the six-page version organised by type of publication, there are now also two single-page versions, sorted by year of publication and alphabetically by author/editor respectively.
  • We have made a few accessibility improvements to the Archive Website: a site-wide main navigation skip link has been introduced; the poems pages have been tidied and line-to-line skip links have been added to the notes & queries versions.
  • Details of our new collaboration with the Bodleian's Electronic Enlightenment Project are now available. The project's metadata on Gray's correspondence has been enriched with information taken from the Archive's correspondence calendar.
  • As always, please pass on any feedback or suggestions to the editor. If you are attending the 42nd Annual BSECS conference, 3rd-5th January 2013, St. Hugh's College, Oxford, please feel free to get in touch with the editor to arrange a meeting.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (September 2012)
  • The Thomas Gray Archive is pleased to announce the completed redesign of its Website. The new design puts the user at the centre, and presents the content accessibly via a number of different routes. The wealth of content provided by the Archive is now much more visible. We hope many more users will discover features such as the notes & queries, finding aid, and digital library. The main areas of improvements include:
    • prominent placement of navigation aids;
    • redesigned layout for increased readability;
    • intuitive and responsive digital library interface;
    • simplified access to notes & queries;
    • full-text of letters prominently displayed;
    • cross-referencing between primary and secondary content.
    There is also a revised About section that comprises aims and objectives, history, funding, methodology, output and dissemination, copyright and citation guide, use and privacy policy, acknowledgements, and contact information.
  • Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like guidance or have feedback on specific aspects of content or functionality which are different on the new Website.
• Thomas Gray Archive: Quarterly update (June 2012)
  • In his article "«In Sì Periglioso Aringo»: Giovanni Ghinassi Traduce L'Elegy Di Thomas Gray", published here for the first time, Andrea Fabbri discusses a lesser-known but important translation of the "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", characterized as both faithful to the original and in harmony with the Italian poetic tradition.
  • All related links verified.
• 1 March 2012:
  • High quality digital images of the four Gray MS letters (ID 0457, 0468, 0599, 0638) held by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, have been added to the digital library. John Sharpe's edition in two volumes of The Letters of Thomas Gray (1819), printed in London by T. Davison, is available in the same section. The correspondence calendar has been updated to reflect these additions. Vols. 13/14 of the recently published digital version of The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence (1937-83) have been added to the letters' bibliographies. All related links verified.
  
  
• 8 December 2011:
  • High quality digital images of the eight literary Gray MSS (MS 0002, 0006, 0107, 0153, 0242, 0243, 0244, 0245) held by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, have been added to the digital library. The MSS' records in the finding aid have been updated accordingly. All related links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 41st Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 4th-6th January 2012, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be glad to meet and discuss future developments informally.
• 12 September 2011:
  • Notes on a Tour through France and Italy undertaken in the Years 1739 to 1741 by Thomas Gray, transcribed and edited by W. G. Roberts, is available on the Archive's prose works page. This authoritative edition of Gray's Notes was first published in Carlisle in 2003 and has now been revised by its editor for publication in the Thomas Gray Archive. Gray's Journal of A Visit to the Lake District in 1769, taken from his MS letters to Dr Wharton, has been added in full-text to the same page. The text is that of H. W. Starr's revised edition of the Correspondence of Thomas Gray (1971, 1st ed. 1935), edited by Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley. All related links verified.
• 2 June 2011:
  • Edward Tew's translations of the "Elegy" and the "[Epitaph on Mrs Mason]", Elegia Grayiana Græce, accedit etiam Epitaphium in Ecclesia Episcopali Bristoliensi et Græce redditum (1795), printed in London by J. Nichols (ESTC T71252), has been added to the printed works section in the digital library. Thomas James Mathias's Observations on the writings and on the character of Mr. Gray originally subjoined to the second volume of the complete edition in 1814 of all his works in two volumes in quarto (1815), printed in London for T. Cadell and W. Davies, is available on the criticism page. All related links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive is delighted to announce that Oxford University's Gray MSS holdings are to be published in the Archive. This digitization project will commence later in the year.
• 3 March 2011:
  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1814), printed in London for J. Walker et al., joins the printed works section in the digital library. The electronic table of contents has been added as a browsing option to the digital library pageturner interface. The Archive bibliography has been updated, all ESTC citation nos. have been turned into live links, all related links verified.
  
  
• 6 December 2010:
  • The illustrated 1775 edition Poems by Mr. Gray (ESTC T59850), printed in Dublin by William Sleater, has been added to the printed works section in the digital library. The Archive bibliography, the glossary of personal names, and the help pages have been updated, all related links have been verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive celebrated its 10th birthday on 15th November 2010. Founded as a research project at the Göttingen State and University Library, the Archive was launched after a nine-month development period on 15th November 2000 and has been continually developed since. In 2002 the Archive moved (with its co-founder and editor) to its current home institution, the University of Oxford. Read more about the Archive's history and, as always, help shape its future by sending any feedback, contributions, and suggestions to the editor.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 40th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 5th-7th January 2011, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be glad to meet and discuss future developments informally.
• 2 September 2010:
  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1826), printed in London for John Sharpe, is available in the printed works section in the digital library. A new Gray bibliography, contributed by Heidi Thomson, Victoria University of Wellington, has been added to the bibliography page. Several updates in the finding aid (see its revision history) and in the correspondence calendar. All related links verified.
• 3 June 2010:
  • The Poems of Gray. A new edition (1800), printed in London for F. J. Du Roveray, joins the printed works section in the digital library. Over 40 additions to the finding aid (see its revision history), several updates in the correspondence calendar. The criticism page has been completely revised and updated, related links updated and verified.
  • Join the Thomas Gray Archive on Facebook: why not stop by and explore our pages, post a comment on our wall, contribute materials, or start a discussion. Of course, you can also send us e-mail or subscribe to our news feed for the latest updates. We do want to hear from you!
• 1 March 2010:
  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1805), published in London by W. Suttaby and C. Corral, has been added to the printed works section in the digital library. The full description of dateable letters in the correspondence calendar now also includes a monthly calendar. The Archive bibliography has been updated, a "Bookmark & Share"-button is now displayed in the "You are here"-navigation bar on all pages, all links verified.
  
  
• 2 December 2009:
  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1798), printed in London for Ann Lemoine, is available in the printed works section in the digital library. Several updates in the Archive's correspondence calendar. The Site history has been moved to its own Webpage, all links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 39th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 5th-7th January 2010, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be glad to meet and discuss future developments informally.
• 3 September 2009:
  • John Mitford's five volume edition of The Works of Thomas Gray (1835-43) joins the printed works section in the digital library. This is an extended and updated version of the two volume edition published in 1816, which represented the first attempt at an accurate edition of Gray's poems and also made available a number of previously unpublished letters. The bibliographies of the letters included in the five volume edition have been updated in the Archive's correspondence calendar. Bibliography updated, all links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the "Johnson at 300" conference, 14th-18th September 2009, Pembroke College, Oxford. He will be glad to meet and discuss future developments informally.
• 1 June 2009:
  • Poems by Mr Gray (1771), printed in London for B. Long and T. Pridden, has been added to the printed works section of the digital library. All out-of-copyright print editions held by the Archive are available for download (PDF) in the same section. All links verified.
• 2 March 2009:
  • Stephen Jones's 1799 and 1800 editions of The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, LL.B. are available in the printed works section of the digital library. The editions comprised 42 of Gray's poems, contemporary translations of his works, additional contextual materials, and nine pieces composed to Gray's memory. Several enhancements made to the finding aid (see its revision history), two Stoke Poges photos added to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, all links verified.
  
  
• 1 December 2008:
  • John Mitford's important early edition of The Works of Thomas Gray (1816) joins the printed works section in the digital library. The two-volume edition, later expanded to five volumes, represented the first attempt at an accurate edition of Gray's poems and also made available a number of previously unpublished letters. The bibliographies of the letters included in the Mitford edition have been updated in the Archive's correspondence calendar. Bibliography updated, two Stoke Poges photos added to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, digital library showcase expanded, all links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 38th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 6th-8th January 2009, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be glad to meet and discuss future developments informally.
• 1 September 2008:
  • G. Kearsley's A Supplement to the Tour Through Great-Britain, containing a Catalogue of the antiquities, houses, parks, plantations, scenes, and situations, in England and Wales... By The Late Mr. Gray... To which are now added, by another Hand, Several Additions... (1787), a pirated version of William Mason's edition of Gray's notes in Ellis's English Atlas (1766), posthumously printed privately as A Catalogue of the antiquities... (1773), has been added to the printed works in the digital library. The correspondence calendar has been updated (British Library holdings verified). University of Oxford branding guidelines adopted for the website, all links verified.
• 2 June 2008:
  • A digital facsimile of and updated record for Gray's letter to James Brown, dated 25 October 1760, announcing the death of King George II, is available on the letters page. E. B. Greene's The Latin Odes of Mr. Gray, in English verse, with An Ode on the Death of a favorite Spaniel (1775), comprising translations of four Latin poems ("Ad C: Favonium Aristium", "[Alcaic Fragment]", "Ad C: Favonium Zephyrinum", "[Alcaic Ode]") and a parody of the "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat", joins the printed works in the digital library. Two Stoke Poges photos added to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, all links verified.
  • Information on updates to the Archive can now be received by subscribing to the Archive's news feed. From 1 July 2008 monthly Website statistics will be provided by Google Analytics, all log files from the Archive's US and UK servers will continue to be archived.
• 4 March 2008:
  • Alexander Donaldson's edition of Poems by Mr. Gray (1775) has been added to the printed works in the digital library. Several updates and additions to the finding aid (see its revision history). Bibliography updated, two more Stoke Poges photos added to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, all links verified.
  
  
• 3 December 2007:
  • John Murray's edition of Poems by Mr. Gray (1776) joins the printed works in the digital library. Melchior Cesarotti's translation Elegia Inglese, del signor Tommaso Gray, sopra un cimitero di campagna, trasportata in verso italiano (1772) has been added to the printed works in the same section. All links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 37th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 3rd-5th January 2008, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be happy to discuss future developments informally.
• 4 September 2007:
  • Foulis' Glasgow edition of Poems by Mr. Gray (1768) is available in the digital library. John Murray's Letter to W. Mason, A.M. (1777), a defence of his use of some of Gray's posthumous poems in his edition of Poems by Mr. Gray (1776), has been added to the criticism page. Bibliography updated, digital library objects showcase added, all links verified.
• 1 June 2007:
  • An ELEGY written in a Country Church Yard. With an HYMN to Adversity. By Mr. Gray (1762) joins the printed works in the digital library. Several additions to the finding aid (see its revision history). All links verified.
• 5 March 2007:
  • Pierre Guédon de Berchère's translation Élégie composée dans un cimetière de campagne, traduite en françois, vers pour vers, de l'anglois de Gray (1788), which also includes Gilbert Wakefield's Latin version, has been added to the printed works in the digital library. Several updates and additions to the finding aid (see its revision history). One photo added to the gallery, all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive has recently been reviewed by Schoolzone "for educational relevance and usefulness" and has been awarded "a Highly Recommended rating" by their teacher reviewer panel. "Schoolzone is the UK's leading evaluation service for online educational resources. We provide evaluations for the Government's ICT in Education partners."
  
  
• 7 December 2006:
  • An EAD-based, integrated finding aid to Thomas Gray manuscripts, initially focusing on poetry MSS, is available in the Primary Texts section. C[harles]. W[right].'s annotated A Catalogue, briefly descriptive, of Various Books, and Original Manuscripts, of The Poet Gray for the 1851 auction of Gray's books and manuscripts has been added to the bibliography page. One photo added to the gallery, all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive has recently "been approved as a Britannica iGuide site" by the editorial team of the Encyclopædia Britannica Online, and, in order to supplement their own content, will be presented as a recommended resource for their online readers.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 36th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 3rd-5th January 2007, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be happy to discuss future developments informally.
  • The Archive's US server has been moved to a new platform running FreeBSD (formerly running Linux).
• 3 October 2006:
  • Cooke's edition of The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1799) has been added to the digital library. Duncan C. Tovey's Gray and his Friends: Letters and Relics (1890) is available in the same section, the bibliographies of the letters included in the edition have been updated. All links verified.
• 11 August 2006:
  • Duncan C. Tovey's three-volume edition of The Letters of Thomas Gray (1900-1912) is available in the digital library, the bibliographies of the letters included in the edition have been updated accordingly. All links verified.
• 2 June 2006:
  • Giuseppe Torelli's translation Elegia di Tommaso Gray, poeta inglese, per esso scritta in un cimitero campestre, tradotta in versi italiani (1776) joins the printed works in the digital library. Two more photos added to the gallery, new related links added and all links verified.
• 7 April 2006:
  • Paget Toynbee's two-volume edition of The Correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West and Ashton (1734-1771) (1915) is available in the digital library, the bibliographies of the letters included in the edition have been updated accordingly. Two more photos added to the gallery, all links verified.
• 10 February 2006:
  • George Wright's The Grave, by Robert Blair; to which is added Gray's Elegy (1787) has been added to the editions of Gray's poems in the digital library. John Mitford's edition of The Correspondence of Thomas Gray and William Mason (1853) joins the printed works available in the same section, letters' bibliography records updated. Two more photos added to the gallery, all links verified.
  
  
• 8 December 2005:
  • A Parody on Gray's Elegy: by an Oxonian (1776), a pirated, slightly altered version of John Duncombe's anonymously published An Evening Contemplation in a College (1753), is available in the digital library. John Young's anonymously published A Criticism on the Elegy written in a Country Church Yard (1783) has been added to the criticism page. Two more photos added to the gallery, all links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 35th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 4th-6th January 2006, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be available for discussion, to answer questions, and will be open to suggestions for future developments.
• 13 October 2005:
  • Gray's The Candidate (1774?) joins the list of printed works in the digital library. Herbert W. Starr's standard work A Bibliography of Thomas Gray, 1917-1951 (1953) is available as a full-text searchable electronic edition on the bibliography page. Three more photos added to the gallery, all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive correspondence address has changed, please see the contacts page for details.
• 5 August 2005:
  • Gray's Latin poetry is available on the poems page in the Primary Texts section, Latin concordance added to the concordance page. New prose works page established in the same section, dedicated to Gray's scholarly writing. C. S. Northup's edition of Essays and Criticisms by Thomas Gray (1911) is available as a full-text searchable electronic edition. Many updates in the correspondence calendar, 95 records added to the letters' bibliographies. Three additions to the "other 'lives'" part of the biography, three more photos added to the gallery, all links verified.
• 9 June 2005:
  • John Bradshaw's edition of The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin (1891) is available as a full-text searchable electronic edition in the Primary Texts section. Gray's only surviving Greek poem "Inscription for a Wood in a Park" joins the edited poems in the same section. More than 150 notes added to the collaborative online commentary. Search Tool revised and moved near top of navigation. Criticism page re-arranged by subject, two more Stoke Poges photos added to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, all links verified.
• 19 April 2005:
  • C. S. Northup's standard work A Bibliography of Thomas Gray (1917) is available as a full-text searchable electronic edition in the Materials section, minor improvements and revisions in several sections, two more Stoke Poges photos join the "places and maps" part of the gallery, all links verified.
• 7 February 2005:
  • Several audio-visual recordings of readings of Gray's poems added to the digital library, improvements made and additional e-text search functionalities added to the search tool, numerous additions to the criticism page, three more Stoke Poges photos join the "places and maps" part of the gallery, minor Website design changes, all links verified.
  
  
• 6 December 2004:
  • Bell's edition of The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1782), which also contains a selection of Richard West's poetry, is available in the digital library. Minor changes and improvements in several sections, related links updated, all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive is pleased to announce the launch of its official UK server at http://www.thomasgray.org.uk/, hosted by the University of Oxford. Both the US and UK servers are updated simultaneously from the Archive's development server, their contents are identical. The Archive editor would like to thank Mr Dave Price, Head of the Systems and Electronic Resources Service at Oxford University, for his support throughout the installation period. See also the announcement on C18-L for this update.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 34th Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 6th-8th January 2005, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be available for discussion, to answer questions, and will be open to suggestions for future developments.
• 11 October 2004:
  • Correspondence calendar updated (Eton College holdings verified), one addition to the "Gray portraits" part of the gallery, minor updates in several sections, bibliography updated, all links verified.
• 18 August 2004:
  • New criticism page established in the Materials section, dedicated to research and teaching materials. Corpus word occurrences display and sorting added to the concordance, digital library pageturner interface modified (expanded titles, displays [missing numbers] in numbered page sequences, contents page images are browsable), synopsis of the "long 18th century" in the chronology is available as PDFs, two additions (Stoke Poges) to the "places and maps" part of the gallery, "favicon" created, all links verified.
• 9 June 2004:
  • Two new glossaries of place names (TGN-based) and literary terms relevant to Gray's life and works have been added to the Materials section, all internal links in the Archive are now based on the structured vocabularies used. The chronology has been extended, the bibliography has been updated, all links have been verified.
• 7 April 2004:
  • The collaborative online commentary is now searchable. This functionality is available from both the poem display pages (for individual texts) and the Archive search engine (for all annotated texts). Minor updates in several sections, general Website face-lift, all links verified.
• 11 February 2004:
  • Extensive updates in the correspondence calendar, one addition to the "Gray's circle" part of the gallery (Walpole portrait). Brief project outline and history added to the general introduction in the help section, minor change to the user interface (internal and external link highlighting), all links verified.
  • The Archive has recently been selected for inclusion on the NEH's EDSITEment website "as one of the best online resources for education in the humanities." The Archive was reviewed by both a peer review panel and a Blue Ribbon panel composed of educators and administrators in education organizations and higher education institutions. Both panels determined that the Archive met the EDSITEment criteria for "intellectual quality, content, design, and most importantly, classroom impact."
  
  
• 15 December 2003:
  • A new letters page is available as part of the Primary Texts section, containing details of the correspondence to and from Thomas Gray. Several of Gray's correspondents added to the "Gray's circle" part of the gallery, a glossary of personal names (LCNAF-based) is available in the Materials section, all links verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 33rd Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 3rd-5th January 2004, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be available for discussion, to answer questions, and will be open to suggestions for future developments.
• 24 October 2003:
  • A browsable calendar to the correspondence of Thomas Gray is scheduled for publication in the Thomas Gray Archive before the end of the year. Minor corrections in the collaborative online commentary, all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive has recently been moved to a new server platform running Linux (formerly running FreeBSD).
• 5 September 2003:
  • Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for six poems by Mr. T. Gray (1753) is available in the digital library. Minor updates in most sections, all links verified.
• 18 July 2003:
  • Gray's Odes (1757) is available in the digital library. Minor presentational changes (additional link highlighting) and corrections for consistency. The bibliography has been updated, all links have been verified.
• 20 June 2003:
  • In the digital library, all images "containing" poems are now hyperlinked to both the corresponding sections of the Archive's electronic texts and the critical apparatus for the displayed passage (the latter via image maps). Minor updates in most sections. All links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive has won the University of Oxford's 2003 OxTALENT award for innovative use of IT in Teaching and Learning in Humanities & Social Sciences. The Archive was reviewed by the OxTALENT interest group according to its evaluation criteria. The award ceremony took place at Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS) on 12 June 2003.
• 12 May 2003:
  • Gray's An Elegy wrote in a Country Church Yard (1751) is available in the digital library. A complementary Synopsis of British Literature and Culture (1660-1830) has been added to the chronology page. Minor presentational changes for clarity. All links verified.
• 11 April 2003:
  • New overview page added for Dodsley's A Collection of Poems (1765; 1st ed. 1748-1758). Minor changes in the concordance (word occurrences) for clarity. Minor updates in most sections. Sitemap added. New links added and all links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive correspondence address has changed, please see the contacts page for details.
• 13 February 2003:
  • Gray's Ode for Music (1769) is available in the digital library. Minor updates and clarifications in several sections, minor additions to the biographical sketch. All links verified.
• 8 January 2003:
  • Gray's poems in vol. vi of Dodsley's A Collection of Poems (1748-1758) are available in the digital library. Minor change in the navigation structure for clarity. All links verified.
  
  
• 4 November 2002:
  • All annotations are available in full-text. Website statistics are available online and will be updated monthly. Minor changes in the navigation structure for clarity. Level A Conformance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 of the Archive Website has been established. Quick start links added to home page. Archive FAQ and About updated. All links have been re-assessed and verified.
• 2 October 2002:
  • Gray's footnotes have been integrated into the searchable paratexts, thus eliminating a previous inconsistency. The bibliography has been updated, all links have been verified.
  • The Archive editor will be attending the 32nd Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS), 3rd-5th January 2003, St. Hugh's College, Oxford. He will be available for discussion, to answer questions, and will be open to suggestions for future developments.
• 19 August 2002:
  • Minor corrections and additions to the collaborative online commentary. The bibliography has been updated, all links have been verified.
• 10 July 2002:
  • The digital library offers thumbnail previews of page images for all editions. Minor corrections in the collaborative online commentary, a few changes in the user interface. All links verified.
• 17 May 2002:
  • The Website of the Thomas Gray Archive has been officially re-launched with all the new items announced on 22 February 2002 (see pilot and evaluation phase). The bibliography has been updated, all links have been verified. See also the H-Net and Humanist announcements for the re-launch of the Website.

Pilot and evaluation phase history

• 6 April 2002:
  • More full-text additions to the collaborative online commentary. All links verified.
  • The Thomas Gray Archive correspondence address has changed, please see the contacts page for details.
• 22 February 2002:
  • The Thomas Gray Archive has recently been relocated to Oxford, UK, and is currently being improved and enlarged. The new Archive will include:
    • Gray's complete English poetry online
    • A concordance of the complete English poetry
    • A digital library of important 18th century editions of Gray's poetry
    • Extended materials section, including many additions to the gallery
    • Improved help with new topics and Archive FAQ
    • New Website design ...
    
    
• 15 November 2001:
  • Minor additions to the biographical sketch and a few changes in the user interface. All links verified.
  • Celebrating the first year of this Website and its continuing popularity, it has been moved to its own domain at http://www.thomasgray.org/ with a new title Thomas Gray (1716-1771) Interactive Hypermedia Archive.
• 17 October 2001:
  • Complete revision of the encoding and CGI-scripts, minor bug fixes and user interface changes based on user feedback. All links verified.
• 28 August 2001:
  • The simple full-text search engine supports wildcard characters "?" (single unknown character) and "*" (any number of characters). Minor design changes for clarity. All links verified.
• 16 July 2001:
  • Minor internal improvements in the CGI-scripts. Minor additions and corrections in the biography (birth and death dates), chronological table (dates), and gallery (expanded captions). All links verified.
• 18 May 2001:
  • More full-text additions to the collaborative online commentary. Minor design changes in the user interface. All links verified.
• 14 March 2001:
  • Substantial full-text additions from a variety of editions. Many small design changes in the Website based on user feedback. All links verified.
• 15 January 2001:
  • Complete update of Website, all links verified. All textual notes from Duncan C. Tovey's Gray edition added in full-text.

Project phase history

• 15 November 2000:
  • Prototype goes live.
• October - November 2000:
  • Website design phase: Website designed and created; materials section completed: gallery added, links updated; help page and about page completed; contacts information added.
• August - October 2000:
  • Technical realisation phase: materials scanned and typed into administrator's frontend for the collaborative online commentary; additional materials created: chronology, biography; development of programs completed; help and about pages begun; primary texts section completed; search engine created.
• March - August 2000:
  • Research phase: research of primary and secondary resources; bibliography created; links to related sources created; creation of online electronic editions of primary texts; data encoding concepts reworked; basic programming of tools finished.
• March 2000:
  • Planning phase: basic project outline; design of user input and system reply model; flat-file commentary designed; basic programming done.
  • Project idea for the Thomas Gray (1716-1771) Interactive Online Commentary born.