The Domesday Book – Library Edition
Domesday Book – The Library Edition
The Complete Edition of Great and Little Domesday
The complete Domesday Book is published in this Library Edition as a perfect facsimile and translation for public and private libraries, book collectors and history lovers. The Complete Edition is produced in both Great Domesday and Little Domesday sets, and it is also possible to become the owner of the entire collection. Only 300 copies were made, worldwide, of this limited-edition publication. The hard-wearing set of cases and books, published by Alecto Historical Editions, and bound in Irish Linen, is designed for frequent reference.
Each set of facsimile copies of Domesday, for Great and Little Domesday, is accompanied by page-for-page translation volumes and the associated maps.
Putting the facsimile and the translation alongside each other allows for line-by-line reading
The material is exceptional and has been described as ‘the finest facsimile of an historic document ever printed’ (United Press International). Every stroke of each scribe’s pen is as clear (or indeed unclear) in today’s edition as they are in the original manuscript. A special acid-free paper named ‘Domesday Parchment’ was commissioned to replicate the weight and character of the original parchment folios. All this to achieve a replication of the highest quality for historians, codicologists, palaeographers and history lovers with an interest in this most comprehensive of all censuses.
An expert editorial board managed the policy governing the translations, maps and indexes. This team of specialists included Professor Sir James Holt, representing medieval studies in general; the present Keeper, Sarah Tyacke, and Dr Elizabeth Hallam-Smith, representing the Public Records Office. Dr Ann Williams is the Editor-in-Chief and Professor G. H. Martin is the General Editor.
The board worked together to ensure readers are fully supported and to encourage further research of Domesday, so that this edition will remain the definitive, standard reference to the manuscript for years to come.