Page:The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire Part 1.djvu/15

 PREFACE TO

HAT a Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, such as I have attempted, had only to be produced to secure an extensive patronage has been proved by the most conclusive of all tests, namely, that the First Edition of 1750 copies was practically exhausted within three months of its publication.

The generous reviews of the press and the numerous congratulations privately received from adequate judges also afford evidence that the work has been fully appreciated for its spirited heraldic illustrations and for its faithful genealogies.

Since the publication of the first edition the "lineages" of the Peers whose pedigrees begin at an early date have been revised, with a view to render them more trustworthy and historical. The plan of the book, comprising as it does the fullest possible account of the modern connoxions and alliances of noble families, does not afford room for the details of each generation in the earlier pedigrees. Such details, when required by the genealogist or historian, are to ho found in more or less completeness, with the authorities upon which they are founded, in the works of Dugdale, Collins, Douglas, Lodge, Wotton, and Betham.

The readers of a drawing-room peerage who consult the historical part, gene- rally do so to satisfy their curiosity as to the origin of a noble house in whose history they are for the moment interested. The question is asked, "Is this an ancient baronial or knightly family, or is its importance of more modern date? From what part of the country did it spring? What is the origin of its influence in its present locality? By what great matches has it increased its wealth and influence?" The object of this part of our work has been to furnish a true and