Leon Luther Pray

Leon Luther Pray was an American taxidermist born in Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1882. He is known in the library record for Taxidermy, first published in 1913, a concise manual written to help non-specialists learn the basics of preparing and mounting specimens.

Archival and museum records also connect him with the Field Museum, where his taxidermy artwork and model-making contributed to natural history displays. That background helps explain the practical tone of his writing: he was not just describing techniques, but drawing on professional experience in how animals could be presented accurately and convincingly.

Available records indicate that he lived a long life, dying in 1975. While detailed biographical information is limited in the sources I could confirm, his surviving work remains useful as a period introduction to taxidermy and to the craft traditions surrounding natural history in the early 1900s.