Victoria County History - General

General

Since 1933 the project has been coordinated by the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.

From the beginning, the responsibility for writing the volumes was delegated to local editors for each individual county. The county editors work under the direction of a general editor, following a uniform format and style. From 1902 the joint general editors were A. Henry Doubleday and William Page. Doubleday left in 1904, leaving Page as sole general editor until his death in 1934. Page was succeeded by L.F. Salzman, who remained general editor until 1949.

The first VCH volume was published in 1901, and publication continued slowly throughout the twentieth century, although in some counties it has come to a halt, especially during the First World War and again in the 1970s. Some inactive counties have been reactivated, most recently Nottinghamshire in 2009.

There are now more than 230 VCH volumes, with about three new volumes published per year. Each is published with a red cover, and they are therefore sometimes known as "the big red books". When the Institute of Historical Research published a short history of the project to mark the 75th anniversary of taking it over, it was titled "The Little Big Red Book".

From 1909 until 1931 Frederick Smith, later 2nd Viscount Hambleden, was the VCH's major sponsor. In February 2005 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the VCH £3,374,000 to fund the England's Past for Everyone project.