BURKES. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of The Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions, or High Official Rank: but Uninvested with Heritable Honours. Illustrated with numerous coats-of-arms. Four volumes.

London: Published by William Coburn, 1836/1838. Royal octavo. Modern brown cloth with original leather spines laid on. Armorial bookplate of Jeremiah O’Leary. A very good set. Scarce.
John Burke (1786-1848) genealogist, and the original publisher of Burke’s Peerage. He was the father of Sir Bernard Burke, a British officer of arms and genealogist. He was the elder son of Peter Burke of Elm Hall, Tipperary, by his first wife, Anne, daughter and coheiress of Matthew Dowdall, M.D., of Mullingar. In accordance with a family arrangement, his younger brother Joseph succeeded to the estate at the father’s death on 13 January 1836. The Burke family were descendants of the Earl of Clanricarde via Dominick Burke (born 1664), of Clondegoff Castle, County Galway. Later generations have lived at Auberies, Bulmer, Essex. John married his cousin Mary O’Reilly (d. 1846), second daughter of Bernard O’Reilly of Ballymorris, Longford. By his wife he had two sons: Peter Burke, a barrister and John Bernard Burke, genealogist and officer of arms. John Burke died at Aix-la-Chapelle in Germany on 27 March 1845. A scarce four volume set of this authoritative work on genealogy. Written by John Burke, known for initiating the long-running Burke’s Peerage series. The present work takes a detailed and meticulous look at noteworthy men and women in the British and Irish Isles who weren’t born into nobility, attaching a misplaced importance to such matters in the process. Each volume contains a frontispiece plate, and numerous coats-of-arms throughout the text. This work was subsequently published as Burke’s Landed Gentry.

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