The Domesday Book – County Edition
Domesday Book – County Edition
For anyone interested in where they live now or where they come from, Domesday reveals fascinating facts about customs, value and ownership of their village, town and county more than 900 years ago. It is the beginning of all local history.
Only 1,000 numbered copies of each Domesday county were created from the unique manuscript in the National Archive at Kew. The publication, originally created by Alecto, for Alecto Historical Editions, has been completed with the issue of the records for Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. At present, the Yorkshire edition is sold out.
The County Edition is presented in a sturdy red case, quarter bound in leather. The case opens out into a lectern, revealing three volumes inside and two maps:
Volume 1: Domesday facsimile of your chosen County, a map of England and a large scale map of your County with Domesday sites plotted over the modern topography.
Volume 2: A modern English translation from the original Latin, structured so that each phrase and sentence is perfectly juxtaposed in precisely the same position on each page as the scribe’s words. This volume includes indexes of people and places, as well as a complete introduction to your county.
Volume 3: Domesday Studies, the commentary, tells the story of how and why Domesday was created and includes 16 articles on related aspects of medieval life. There is also a glossary and general bibliography and the volume is copiously illustrated with maps, drawings and photographs.
“Domesday Book is not only one of the most important documents in English history: it is one of the most extraordinary documents in any country’s history. We are lucky to have this remarkable snapshot of life in the late eleventh century”
Lady Antonia Fraser
Domesday Book – The Counties
If you live in one of the 34 Domesday counties, the land upon which your property now stands was assessed more than 900 years ago in what remains the most detailed census ever to have been conducted. Birmingham was a village and another village, Hampstead, was valued at five shillings.
For many hundreds of years, this survey of our ancestors remained concealed in the only copy of Domesday, one of the most important British books ever written.
Now a perfect facsimile of your county can be yours. Your guide will be William the Conqueror's scribe, and your interpreters will be an imposing assembly of historians, archeologists and map-makers. Contact us for more information about owning your Domesday County limited edition.
To find out more please fill in the details below, indicating which county edition(s) you are interested in.