Gray was born in
Belgravia, London, in 1827 and lived most of his life in London. In 1842, he entered as a student at
St. George's Hospital, London (then situated in Belgravia, now moved to
Tooting), and he was described by those who knew him as a most painstaking and methodical worker, and one who learned his anatomy by the slow but invaluable method of making dissections for himself. While still a student, Gray secured the triennial prize of
Royal College of Surgeons in 1848 for an essay entitled
The Origin, Connexions and Distribution of nerves to the human eye and its appendages, illustrated by comparative dissections of the eye in other vertebrate animals. In 1852, at the early age of 25, he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society, and in the following year he obtained the
Astley Cooper prize of three hundred
guineas for a dissertation "On the structure and Use of
Spleen." In 1858, Gray published the first edition of
Anatomy, which covered 750 pages and contained 363 figures. He had the good fortune of securing the help of his friend
Henry Vandyke Carter, a skilled draughtsman and formerly a demonstrator of anatomy at St. George's Hospital. Carter made the drawings from which the engravings were executed. The excellence of Carter's illustrations contributed greatly to the initial success of the book. This edition was dedicated to Sir
Benjamin Collins Brodie. A second edition was prepared by Gray and published in 1860. The book is still published under the title ''
Gray's Anatomy'' and widely appreciated as an authoritative textbook for
medical students. Gray held successively the posts of demonstrator of
Anatomy, curator of the museum and Lecturer of Anatomy at St. George's Hospital and was in 1861 a candidate for the post of assistant surgeon. ==Death==