Publication of Domesday Book - The Alecto Editions

The Alecto Editions

Published between 1985 and 1992 the Alecto Edition is the most complete facsimile of the Domesday Book to date. There are three types of Alecto edition, ‘The Penny Edition’, The Millennium Edition and the Domesday Book Studies edition. It has been called an ‘‘indecently exact facsimile’, according to Professor Geoffrey Martin, the then Keeper of Public Records and custodian of the original Domesday’. In order to produce this extremely high quality reproduction the original Domesday Book was unbound to allow each page to be photographed. The camera used for this process was the same size as a Ford Fiesta and for security reasons was only operated in a sealed cage.

The Penny Edition was printed on a specialist paper made from cotton from the American Deep South so that it had the same weight and feel as the parchment of the original, although without the cost this implies. These pages were then bound between sheets of fifteenth century oak set with a silver penny of William I and another 1986 Elizabeth II penny minted specially for the occasion. Because of the vast expense involved each copy of the Penny Edition cost £5750 and only 250 were produced.

The later Millennium Edition used the same high quality images and paper was bound into two volumes of calf skin in the style of the 12th century binding. This edition was accompanied by a volume of indices, a two volume English translation of the Latin and a box set of Ordnance Survey Maps with the Domesday sites overlaid on the modern maps. This edition was limited to 450 copies at a cost of £6750 for Greater Domesday and £5750 for Little Domesday.

The Library Version of Domesday once again used the same paper as the Penny and Millennium versions but was bound in a linen cover and boxed to provide durability over many years of use. This edition came with indices, translations and maps.