The Sussex Domesday. [ Alecto county edition of Domesday Book.] [ 3 vols, complete set, in slipcase ] 3 vols, cloth backed boards, 41 cm, -

Alecto Historical Editions, London, 1987- 1990, first edition thus. Limited edition of 1000 sets. 3 vols, cloth-backed boards, 41 cm,. Facsimile volume + viii, 64 pp and transcription + x, 179 pp. A beautifully produced set of three volumes comprising the County Edition of Domesday Book for Sussex. Volume 1 comprises a high-quality colour facsimile of the original Sussex section of Domesday Book (Folios 16-29), with a fold-out map of England and a large scale map of Sussex which has Domesday sites plotted over the modern topography. Volume 2 is a new English translation structured so that each phrase and sentence is perfectly juxtaposed in precisely the same position on each page as the scribe's words. This volume includes a complete introduction to the Sussex section of Domesday Book, as well as indexes of people and places. Volume 3: Domesday Studies, is the commentary volume on Domesday Book as a whole, telling the story of how and why Domesday was created and including 16 articles on related aspects of medieval life. There is also a glossary and general bibliography and the volume is copiously illustrated with maps, drawings and photographs. From the preface: " As the seat of the power of the Godwine family and strategically placed opposite Normandy, Sussex played an important part in the events which led up to Duke William's landing at pevensey and his triumph at Battle sixteen days later. The prominence of the county both before and during the Norman Conquest is justly commemorated in the Bayeux Tapestry where two Sussex monuments have the distinction of appearing by name: Hastings Castle and the church at Bosham. Moreover, the administrative system differs from other counties in that it was divided into five 'rapes', unique to Sussex, each under the vigilant control of a powerful lord from his castle on the coastal plain. These exceptional arrangements are evident throughout the Sussex folios of Domesday Book, and they demonstrate William's need to control this first foothold in his new kingdom, to deny its use to an imitator - and, no doubt, should events take a turn for the worse, to protect his exit. Set No. 450. Near Fine set in somewhat rubbed and mildly marked slipcase.