Illustration courtesy of
The Masters and Fellows
of Trinity College, Cambridge

¶ Welcome to the Alecto Historical Editions Domesday website. 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famous books in the world, alongside the Bible and the Koran, and is acknowledged as being one of the most important historical documents of the first millennium.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.

¶ In 1984 the Public Record Office took the historic decision to unbind the original Domesday manuscripts and invited Alecto Historical Editions to undertake the publication of a facsimile.

¶ In 1986, the first colour facsimile of Great Domesday was printed in a strictly limited number of sets. These are now available as either complete Millennium or County Editions and include extensive text.

¶ This year Alecto has finally completed the project with the publication of Little Domesday which covers the eastern circuit counties of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. It is published in the same editions as Great Domesday.

¶ For those visitors whose interest in Domesday Book is more academic, we have included a page that provides a gateway to other websites of related interest. This page also offers greater detail about the Alecto Domesday publication, including the printing of the facsimile. In addition, there are sections concerning the translations, maps and indexes that accompany the facsimile. There is also information about the publication of Little Domesday.

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