The Complete Collection of Irish Music. As noted by George Petrie, (1789-1866). Edited, from the Original Manuscripts by Charles Villiers Stanford. Published by the Irish Literary Society of London by Boosey, 1902. First Edition Thus. Pp, 397. Ex library copy, with ink stamps & with occasional label residue to endpapers. Rebound quarter morocco, green cloth boards, title in gilt to spine. A very good copy.

Prefaced with a ‘Facsimile of Page 359, Vol. 2. of the Petrie Manuscript.’ Contains 1581 musical examples, in three parts.

The majority of pieces have a brief title or identifying note appended. With a ten-page introduction by Petrie and a index listing the tunes with titles.

Charles Stanford notes in his preface: “The Publication of the complete collection of Dr. Petrie’s manuscripts of Irish music at last realises the aspirations of those enthusiastic Irishmen, most of them no more, who founded the Society for the preservation and publication of the Melodies of Ireland. This Society only succeeded in printing one volume of Dr. Petrie’s work. The fact, however (announced in its prospectus), that it had at its disposal the materials of more than five such volumes, set me thinking how they could be traced and if possible published. My investigations happily resulted in the discovery of the material, and it is now presented to the public exactly in the form which it took from Petrie’s hand. I am not aware that any collection of the folk-music of any country exists in such profusion of material or so straight from the mint. A few errors there are, but I have left Petrie’s work untouched, only nothing doubtful points occur. This volumes contained arrangements and airs themselves evidently (from comparison with the original mss.) suffered from manipulation by an ignorant hand. Each melody , however had a most interesting history and cirticism written by Petrie. It was impossible to reproduce these notes in the present collection. A reproduction of Dr. Petrie’s very beautiful manuscript is prefixed to the first volume.”