Publication of Domesday Book

A digital edition of manuscript facsimile images alongside the text of the Phillimore translation was published as the "Domesday Explorer" on CD-ROM in 2000, publicly accessible as an online database since 2008.[5] In March 1767 Charles Morton (1716–1799), a librarian at the British Museum, was put in charge of the scheme; a fact which caused resentment towards him from Abraham Farley, a deputy chamberlain of the Exchequer who for many years had controlled access to Domesday Book in its repository at the Chapter House, Westminster, and furthermore had been involved in the recent Parliament Rolls printing operation.[8] Farley pursued the task with a single-minded devotion born of long involvement with the public records, and Domesday Book in particular.One of his closest associates during the project was the printer John Nichols, inheritor of William Bowyer's London printing press, who in 1773 had developed the special "record type" typeface that was used in the published edition to represent as closely as possible the script in Domesday Book itself.These were compiled under the direction of Sir Henry Ellis and published in 1816, together with an edition of four "satellite surveys" – the Exon Domesday, the Liber Winton, the Inquisitio Eliensis and the Boldon Book.The process involved the transferring of a photograph onto zinc or stone, which could then be used directly for printing or, alternatively, onto the waxed surface of a copper plate where the image formed a guide for engraving.In a letter to the assistant Secretary to the Treasury, George Hamilton in October 1860, James outlined the cost of a complete reproduction of Domesday Book as an estimated £1575 for 500 copies or, alternatively, £3.From the outset, it was intended that this plan should include English translations of the relevant county sections of the Domesday Book, with a scholarly introduction and a map.Although the Phillimore edition rapidly became the most readily accessible and widely used version of Domesday Book, scholars criticised the translation for over-simplifying complex historical concepts: David Bates, for example, described it as "unconvincingly and unhelpfully 'modern'".It has been called an "indecently exact facsimile" by Professor Geoffrey Martin, then Keeper of Public Records and custodian of the original Domesday.The Penny Edition was printed on a specialist paper made from cotton from the American Deep South to give something of the same weight and feel as the parchment of the original.The editorial board, consisting of Ann Williams (editor-in-chief), G. H. Martin (general editor), J. C. Holt, Henry R. Loyn, Elizabeth Hallam-Smith (Assistant Keeper of Public Records), and Sarah Tyacke (Keeper of Public Records, the National Archives) produced a rigorously standardized and corrected translation based on the VCH text.
Entries for Croydon and Cheam , Surrey , in Farley's edition of Domesday Book
A page from the photozincographic edition of Domesday Book for Somersetshire (published in 1862), showing entries for some of the landholdings of Glastonbury Abbey
Alecto Millennium Edition binding
Cover of Penguin Edition (UK)
Screen shot of the Domesday Explorer
Domesday BookWilliam I of EnglandAbraham Farleyfirst facsimile editionHenry JamesVictoria County HistoryPhillimore & CoJohn MorrisPenguin Bookscounty historySociety of Antiquaries of LondonHumfrey WanleyJohn BagfordJohn TalmanPhilip Carteret WebbWilliam BowyerParliament RollsCroydonSurreyCharles MortonChapter HouseJohn NicholsWilliam Bowyer'srecord typeRecord CommissionHenry EllisExon DomesdayLiber WintonInquisitio EliensisBoldon BookPhotozincography of Domesday BookSomersetshireGlastonbury AbbeyphotozincographicfacsimileOrdnance SurveyWilliam Ewart GladstoneChancellor of the ExchequerlithographySecretary to the TreasuryCornwallhistoric counties of EnglandJ. H. RoundHampshireWorcestershireNorthamptonshireHertfordshireBedfordshireWarwickshireBuckinghamshireSomersetBerkshireHerefordshireCumberlandDerbyshireFrank StentonSussexL. F. SalzmanLancashireNorfolkNottinghamshireLeicestershireRutlandShropshireJames TaitLincolnshireSuffolkYorkshireHuntingdonshireCambridgeshireOxfordshireWiltshireStaffordshireDorsetRalph PughMiddlesexCheshireChetham SocietyLincoln Record SocietyEast Riding of YorkshireGloucestershireparallel-textRex Welldon FinnDavid BatesGeoffrey MartinFord FiestaDeep SouthWilliam IElizabeth IIG. H. MartinJ. C. HoltHenry R. LoynElizabeth Hallam-SmithSarah TyackeUniversity of HullMicrosoft AccessArts and Humanities Research CouncilUniversity of EssexThe National ArchivesHallam, E.Ellis, HenryFinn, R. WelldonWayback MachineBates, DavidHallam, Elizabeth M.