Born in Clontibret, County Monaghan, Ireland, Bury was the son of Edward John Bury, the canon of Clogher, and the brother of John Bagnell Bury, an Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. It was pleasantly claimed by neighbors that the only language spoken in the Clontibret presbytery was Greek. He studied classics under Professor Henry Jackson at Trinity College, Cambridge, winning the Browne Medal Scholar in 1889 and graduating with first-class honours in classics in 1890. He graduated as M.A. in 1893 and received a Litt.D. in 1910.
In 1895 Bury decided to become an Anglican clergyman. He was ordinated as a deacon in that year and as a priest in 1897. From this time onwards "il va consacrer sa vie d'une part au ministère des âmes, d'autre part à la philologie grecque et spécialement à Platon" . For several decades he was a curate successively at Staplehurst, Kent, in the parish of St Andrew Holborn, at Clontibret, County Monaghan, and at Templecarn, County Donegal ; then a vicar at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire ; and finally a rector at East Gilling, Yorkshire, and at Dickleburgh and Langmere, Norfolk. He then retired and, following the death of his wife in 1934, worked peacefully in Cambridge until his death there in 1951. During these final years he continued to make regular contributions to academic journals such as the Classical Quarterly, Classical Studies, Revue des Études greques, and Revue de philologie.
Legacy
During the earlier part of his life Bury made a name for himself by creating authoritative new editions for the Cambridge University Press of Plato's Socratic dialogues Philebus and Symposium. Then he composed English translations of Plato's Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles and Laws and of the works of Sextus Empiricus for the bilingual Loeb Classical Library. In late life he turned his mind to other areas of religion and philosophy, penning a study of the logos doctrine in the Gospel of John and study in the history of philosophy with the title of The Devil's Puzzle. A Survey of Men's Notions of Man. Critics have remarked on the extensive nature of the introductions, commentaries, notes and appendices to be found in Bury's books. Most of Bury's translations have been reprinted repeatedly and are still in print today. Professor Robert B. Todd remarked that "ew British scholars have served served Greek philosophical studies as well without holding a formal academic position".
The Gregg Bury Prize has been established at the University of Cambridge and is "awarded for a distinguished dissertation on the subject of the Philosophy of Religion". Past recipients have included Malcolm Jeeves, Ian Hacking, Neema Sofaer and K. M. A. Esmail.
Select bibliography
Books: As editor and commentator
The Philebus of Plato. Edited with Introduction, Notes and Appendices. Cambridge University Press, 1897, .
The Symposium of Plato. Edited with Introduction, Critical Notes and Commentary. Cambridge, W. Heffer and Sons, 1909, .
Plato, with an English Translation: Volume IX: Laws. In Two Volumes. I. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann, 1926, .
Plato, with an English Translation: Volume IX: Laws. In Two Volumes. II. London, William Heinemann, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1926, .
Sextus Empiricus. With an English Translation by the Rev. R. G. Bury, Litt.D. In Four Volumes.
* Vol. I: Outlines of Pyrrhonism. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann, 1933,
* Vol. II: Against the Logicians. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann, 1935,
* Vol. III: Against the Physicists. Against the ethicists. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann, 1936
* Vol. IV: Against the Professors.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann, 1949
Books: As critic
The Fourth Gospel and the Logos-Doctrine. Cambridge, W. Heffer & Sons, 1940.
