Petrie, George (1790-1866), was an Irish artist and musical scholar and historian. Petrie devoted much of his life to the study and recording of ancient Irish art and culture. He produced The Petrie Collection of the Native Music of Ireland in 1855. It ranks among the most significant works on traditional Irish music published in the 1800's. A second volume called Ancient Music of Ireland was published in 1882, after Petrie's death. A three-volume edition of the work was published from 1902 to 1905, consisting of almost 1,600 melodies Petrie had collected.