Skip to main content

Grey, Zane, 1872-1939

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1872 - 1939

Biographical History

Zane Grey (1872-1939) was one of the world's most prominent and prolific writers of Western novels.

Pearl Zane Gray was born January 31, 1872, in his ancestral home of Zanesville, Ohio. The fourth of five children born to Lewis M. Gray, a dentist, and Josephine Alice Zane, his was an active boyhood marked by attendance at local schools and participation in many boyhood activities of which fishing and baseball were his favorites.

After serving an apprenticeship with his father, he entered dental school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1892. Although he was acclaimed for his success as an outstanding shortstop on the school's baseball team, his academic performance was only average. He graduated in 1896, and while practicing dentistry in New York City continued to play baseball with the Athletic Club in East Orange, New Jersey.

In 1900 he met his future wife, editor, and life-long source of encouragement, Lina Elise Roth, known as Dolly. During their five year courtship Gray changed his name to Zane Grey (dropping his first name and changing the spelling of his last), gave up his dental practice, and began a career as an author. After receiving many rejections by publishers, on his own he published his first book, entitled Betty Zane (1903). He and Dolly were married the following year, making their first home in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania.

Grey's attention was drawn west to the geographic area which would provide the setting for most of his major books when he met Charles Jesse ("Buffalo") Jones in 1906. An older hunter who had set out to preserve and breed buffalo which were in danger of extinction, Jones took Grey to the American Southwest for the purpose of having Grey write a book about his life. Upon returning to the East fired by his experiences, he expressed his sentiments in The Last of the Plainsmen, a book about Jones. In 1910 he published Heritage of the Desert and in 1912 Riders of the Purple Sage. These two books were his first major successes in literature and the ones by which he established his national reputation as an author. Riders of the Purple Sage was enormously successful and is his best known and probably his best loved work.

His greatest sustained success, wealth, and fame came after him, Dolly, and their three children (Romer, Betty, and Lore) moved to Altadena, California, in 1918. Included among his works published during this time were To the Last Man, Tappan's Burro, Forlorn River, The Shepherd of Guadaloupe, Robbers' Roost, and The Trail Driver. By 1930 he was hailed as the most sought after writer in America.

When he was not writing, Grey took lengthy trips to such places as New Zealand, Australia, and Tahiti, where he set world records with his deep sea fishing catches (at one time he held ten world records) and where he had many of the experiences that later served as the basis for some of his writing. He enjoyed hunting and exploring as well, and these activities also found expression in his sports and adventure stories, written for both juvenile and adult readers.

Zane Grey died October 23, 1939, in Altadena, California. During his lifetime he sold nearly 20 million copies of his novels, and another 20 million have been sold posthumously. Before his death he published 40 western romances in addition to works for juveniles, and collections of short stories and books on his adventures as a hunter, explorer, and fisherman. Since his death another 23 of his books have been published. Desert Gold, The Rainbow Trail, The Border Legion, To The Last Man, The Shepherd of Guadaloupe, Robbers' Roost, The Trail Driver, Twin Sombreros, Ride the Man Down, Lost Pueblo, and Boulder Dam; and the novelettes Tappan's Burro, Don The Ranger, Canyon Walls From Missouri, and The Horse Thief.

Citation:
Zane Grey: A Biography, 1970 (comprehensive list of book titles, sales statistics)

Wikipedia, website viewed June 14, 2011 (b. Jan. 31, 1872, Zanesville, Ohio; parents: Lewis M. Gray, Josephine Alice Zane Grey; father a dentist; 4th of 5 children; Grey loved fishing and baseball; attended dental school at University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia from 1892-1896; was shortstop on University baseball team; played baseball with athletic club of East Orange, New Jersey; met wife Dolly in 1900, courted 5 years before marrying; Grey's occupation orginially dentist, then author; rejected by publishers so self-published Betty Zane in 1903; lived in Lackawaxen, Penns. with wife; met Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones in 1906; travelled Jones to American Southwest; wrote Last of the Plainsmen about Jones; published Heritage of the Desert in 1910 and Riders of the Purple Sage in 1912; moved to Altadena, Calif. with family in 1918; from 1918-1930 wrote To the Last Man, Tappan's Burro, Forlorn River, The Shepherd of Guadaloupe, Robbers' Roost, and The Trail Driver, among others; took trips to New Zealand, Australia and Tahiti for deep-sea fishing; held ten deep-sea fishing records; Grey hunted and explored; his novels produced into movies; also wrote short stories and recounts of his own adventures; Grey's novels sold 20 million copies before his death and another 20 million copies after; published 40 western romances before death, another 23 published posthumously; married Lina "Dolly" Elise Roth Nov. 21, 1905, New York, N.Y.; children: Romer Zane, Betty, and Loren; d. Oct. 23, 1939, Atlandena, Calif.)

Found in 87 Collections and/or Records:

Zane Grey manuscripts, between 1900 and 1990

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 8316 Series 4
Scope and Contents

This series contains manuscripts for books, short stories and screenplays by Zane Grey, Loren Grey, and others related to Zane Grey, and two biographical manuscripts, dating from between 1910 and 1990.

Dates: between 1900 and 1990

Zane Grey miscellaneous photographs, approximately 1900-1960

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 8316 Series 6 Sub-Series 6
Scope and Contents

This subseries contains unidentified or miscellaneous photographs dating from approximately 1900 to 1960. It contains photographs of actresses, people and places with an unknown connection to Zane Grey or his family.

Dates: approximately 1900-1960

Zane Grey original manuscripts, approximately 1910-1939

 Series
Identifier: MSS 9522 Series 3
Scope and Contents

Contains various original (mainly typescript) manuscripts and partial manuscripts written by Zane Grey between approximately 1910 and 1939.

Dates: approximately 1910-1939

Zane Grey papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 507
Scope and Contents Includes 35 literary manuscripts of published and unpublished Western romances and sports writings. The bulk of the items are first draft pencil holographs written on one side of legal sized paper. Of those in print their publication dates range from 1912 to 1963. Some of these titles include "Desert Gold," "The Rainbow Trail," "The Border Legion," "To the Last Man," "Tappan's Burro," "The Shepherd of Guadaloupe," and "Robbers' Roost." The collection also includes some minor...
Dates: 1912-1939

Zane Grey personal correspondence, approximately 1900-1960

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 6081 Series 1 Sub-Series 2
Scope and Contents

Contains correspondence between Zane Grey and family members, editors, and fans. Most of the material deals with family concerns and Grey's writings dating from approximately 1900 to 1960.

Dates: approximately 1900-1960

Zane Grey personal correspondence, 1895-1936

 Sub-Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 8316 Series 1 Sub-Series 1
Scope and Contents This subseries contains personal correspondence of Zane and Lina Elise Grey from 1895 to 1936. It includes correspondence and postcards between Zane Grey, Lina Elise Grey, R. C. Grey, and his children Betty Zane and Romer Grey. It also includes correspondence concerning various women including Claire Wilhelm, Louise Anderson, describing their relationships with Zane Grey, and letters from a clairvoyant named Anna Andre regarding her belief in Zane Grey's talents. There is also a letter from...
Dates: 1895-1936

Zane Grey personal papers, approximately 1900-1976

 Series
Identifier: MSS 6081 Series 1
Scope and Contents

Contains materials concerning Grey's life and death and his personal relationships with friends and family. These materials include autographs, correspondence with his wife, Lina Grey, and son, Romer, journals, itineraries, and other materials documenting his fishing expeditions and writing trips, and biographical histories written about him both during and after his life dating from approximately 1900 to 1976.

Dates: approximately 1900-1976

Zane Grey personal papers, approximately 1910-1945

 Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS 6081 Series 1 Sub-Series 1
Scope and Contents

Documents various personal activities of Zane Grey and includes autographs, notebooks, legal records, blueprints, information on the Liberty ship named for him, and other materials dating from approximately 1910 to 1945.

Dates: approximately 1910-1945

Zane Grey photographic negatives, approximately 1919-1980

 Sub-Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 6081 Series 10
Scope and Contents

Contains color, black and white, and glass negatives for photographs contained in other series. Each negative possesses the same item number as its corresponding photograph with an N after the number. Dated approximately 1919-1980.

Dates: approximately 1919-1980

Zane Grey photographic negatives, approximately 1890-1940

 Sub-Series — Box 14: Series 6 [Barcode: 31197233647731]
Identifier: MSS 8316 Series 6 Sub-Series 7
Scope and Contents

This subseries contains negatives for photographs contained in box 13, folders 18-21. Each negative possesses the same item number as its corresponding photograph with an N after the number and date from approximately 1890-1940.

Dates: approximately 1890-1940

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 73
Collection 14
 
Subject
Literature 56
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 55
American literature 43
Frontier and pioneer life 41
Novelists, American -- Archives 41
∨ more
Photographs 34
Western films 21
Correspondence 20
Letters 18
Manuscripts 14
West (U.S.) -- Social life and customs 12
Authors, American -- 20th century 11
Images 11
West (U.S.) -- Pictorial works 10
Western stories -- Manuscripts 10
Film serials 9
Postcards 9
Printed ephemera 8
Articles 7
Arizona -- Photographs 5
Legal instruments 5
Negatives 5
Utah, Southern -- Photographs 5
Diaries 4
Authors and publishers -- Correspondence 3
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence 3
Biographies 3
Business, Industry, Labor, and Commerce 3
Deeds 3
Fishing 3
Newspapers 3
Nitrate negatives 3
Social Life and Customs 3
Western stories 3
Authors, English -- Manuscripts 2
Bank statements 2
Black-and-white negatives 2
Business records 2
Compact discs 2
Deeds of trust 2
Fan mail 2
Fishing -- Photographs 2
Greeting cards 2
Home and Family 2
Minutes (Records) 2
Motion picture plays 2
New Zealand -- Photographs 2
Oregon -- Photographs 2
Photocopies 2
Publications 2
Publishers and Publishing 2
Publishers and publishing 2
Sports and Recreation 2
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island) -- Photographs 2
Tax records 2
Account books 1
American newspapers 1
Archaeology 1
Artifacts 1
Australia -- Photographs 1
Authors, American -- Archives 1
Authors, American -- Biography 1
Authors, American -- Correspondence 1
Authors, American -- Manuscripts 1
Authors, American -- Photographs 1
Autobiographies 1
Automobiles -- Photographs 1
Booklets 1
California -- Photographs 1
Camping -- Colorado -- Photographs 1
City and Town Life 1
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) 1
Color negatives 1
Colorado -- Photographs 1
Copyright 1
Expeditions and Adventure 1
Farm equipment -- Photographs 1
Flattop Mountain (Grand County and Larimer County, Colo.) -- Photographs 1
Glass negatives 1
Horses -- Photographs 1
Immigration and American Expansion 1
Indians of North America 1
Inventories 1
Invoices 1
Manuscripts for publication 1
Material Types 1
Music -- Instruction and study -- Utah -- History -- Sources 1
Notebooks 1
Novels 1
Ohio -- Photographs 1
Papers (Documents) 1
Pennsylvania -- Photographs 1
Periodicals 1
Prints 1
Programs 1
Publishers and Publishing -- United States -- Correspondence 1
Receipts (Financial records) 1
Redwoods -- Photographs 1
Safety film negatives 1
Scripts (Documents) 1
+ ∧ less