The Domesday Book – Millennium Edition . [ 6 volume set, complete ] .
Williams, A. ; Martin, G. H. ; Alecto Historical Editions :
London : Alecto Historical Editions, 2000 .
The Domesday Book – Millennium Edition is the complete text of the Domesday survey of William the Conqueror’s kingdom in a limited edition of 450 [ No. 82 ], perfect facsimile copies. It is bound in a replica of the earliest known Domesday binding (the Winton Domesday) and very few copies remain. This is the de-luxe edition which includes companion volumes and maps which help bring to life this fascinating part of our heritage. A two-volume modern English translation, typeset so the text follows the original hand-written script line-for-line. These volumes are superbly hand-bound within a linen spine and hand-made paper sides. Also included is a people and places index volume, bound to match the translation. This volume includes an introduction and a dedication sheet carrying the number 82 / 450 . Domesday is presented with a matching solander box containing modern Ordnance Survey maps with overlaid Domesday sites (light water stain to 30% of the spine. The two-volume facsimile of Great Domesday is bound in brown embossed EI calfskin to the 12th Century design of the Winton Domesday (which is one of only thirteen known English Romanesque bindings that have survived). The two volumes of the facsimile of the Domesday Book, are handsomely bound in antique style blind-stamped calf, housed in a custom reversed calf antique style satchel with ties.
Domesday has been called one of the three most famous books in the world, alongside the Bible and the Koran, and is acknowledged as being one of the most important historical documents of the first millennium. William the Conqueror’s great survey has been used as a working document ever since its commission at Christmas 1085 and remained pre-eminent as a census of England until the 19th Century. It was last consulted for legal precedent in 1982, 896 years after it was written. Domesday Book encompasses two independent works (in, originally, two physical volumes). These were “Little Domesday” (covering Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex), and “Great Domesday” (covering much of the remainder of England and parts of Wales, except for lands in the north which later became Westmorland, Cumberland, Northumberland, and the County Palatine of Durham). No surveys were made of the City of London, Winchester, or some other towns, probably due to their tax-exempt status.
(Stock ref 53097)