John P. Clay
Encyclopedia
John Clay was born in Paterson, New Jersey
in 1934. A 1957 graduate of Oxford University, Clay took first class honors in Sanskrit
, Avestan
and Old Persian. He went on to a long career in global investment banking with Clay Finlay, Inc, New York, and before that with Vickers da Costa, New York, and the London Stock Exchange
.
In 1999 he decided that he wanted to give enduring patronage to his real passion: Sanskrit literature
and his vision of a series that would make all the classics available to the general public for the first time. With his wife Jennifer, John founded the JJC Foundation and he shared his vision for the Clay Sanskrit Library
with Richard Gombrich
, Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford since 1976 (a classmate of Clay's at St Paul’s school, London), and Gombrich agreed to serve as general editor of the Library. As John Clay himself remembers: “We were inspired by a spirit of exploration.” Clay then hired Somadeva Vasudeva and Isabelle Onians (themselves Sanskrit scholars) to be associate editors for the series, as well as more than forty leading academics from ten different countries, to produce new translations of all of the classical Sanskrit texts. The series, co-published with New York University Press, will consist of some 100 volumes upon completion.
Clay now lives in New York City, where the new joint general editor also lives. He is Sheldon Pollock
, William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies at Columbia University
.
One anecdote told of Clay is that on graduation from Oxford, Clay was invited to make an academic career. He is said to have responded that he would prefer to go out into the world and make his fortune, but he more or less told the Academy that one day he might be back. In his decades of intercontinental air travel he wished he had pocket-sized volumes with facing pages of Sanskrit literature and English translation, the Greek and Latin Loeb
analogues of which he was able to carry in his pocket. His dream was and is thus to get the Clay Sanskrit Library on sale in airport bookshops.
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
in 1934. A 1957 graduate of Oxford University, Clay took first class honors in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Avestan
Avestan language
Avestan is an East Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name...
and Old Persian. He went on to a long career in global investment banking with Clay Finlay, Inc, New York, and before that with Vickers da Costa, New York, and the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
.
In 1999 he decided that he wanted to give enduring patronage to his real passion: Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature
Literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity . Literary production saw a late bloom in the 11th century before declining after 1100 AD...
and his vision of a series that would make all the classics available to the general public for the first time. With his wife Jennifer, John founded the JJC Foundation and he shared his vision for the Clay Sanskrit Library
Clay Sanskrit Library
The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the right...
with Richard Gombrich
Richard Gombrich
Richard Francis Gombrich is a British Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, and Buddhist Studies. He acted as the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-President of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies...
, Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford since 1976 (a classmate of Clay's at St Paul’s school, London), and Gombrich agreed to serve as general editor of the Library. As John Clay himself remembers: “We were inspired by a spirit of exploration.” Clay then hired Somadeva Vasudeva and Isabelle Onians (themselves Sanskrit scholars) to be associate editors for the series, as well as more than forty leading academics from ten different countries, to produce new translations of all of the classical Sanskrit texts. The series, co-published with New York University Press, will consist of some 100 volumes upon completion.
Clay now lives in New York City, where the new joint general editor also lives. He is Sheldon Pollock
Sheldon Pollock
Sheldon I. Pollock is a scholar of Sanskrit, Indian intellectual and literary history, and comparative intellectual history. He is currently the William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University...
, William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
One anecdote told of Clay is that on graduation from Oxford, Clay was invited to make an academic career. He is said to have responded that he would prefer to go out into the world and make his fortune, but he more or less told the Academy that one day he might be back. In his decades of intercontinental air travel he wished he had pocket-sized volumes with facing pages of Sanskrit literature and English translation, the Greek and Latin Loeb
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...
analogues of which he was able to carry in his pocket. His dream was and is thus to get the Clay Sanskrit Library on sale in airport bookshops.