Doomsday Book

the record of an official survey of England made during the reign of William the Conqueror. The origin of the name is in dispute. It is connected by tradition with the tyranny of the Norman nobles. As studied nowadays, it appears to be a very systematic record of the ownership and occupancy of land. The names of owners and renters are set down, together with the extent of land occupied by each. Other items were the number of acres under tillage, in pasture, in meadow, or in forest, together with the number and kind of domestic animals. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says: "So very straitly did he cause the survey to be made, that there was not a single hyde, nor a yardland of ground, nor--it is shameful to say what he thought no shame to do--was there an ox or a cow or a pig passed by, and that was not down in the accounts, and then all these writings were brought to him." At all events, the Doomsday Book became the official register of land ownership. It covers the greater part of England. In that country land titles start with the Doomsday Book. The original is still preserved in the government archives at London. See William The Conqueror; Record Office

Dor'e do-ra, Paul Gustave (1833-1883), a noted French illustrator of books. He was born at Strasburg. He received his education, lived, and died in Paris. His illustrations of the Bible, of Dante's Inferno, Milton's Paradise Lost, Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and Cervantes' Don Quixote have made him famous. He is not unknown as a painter, but in this department his fame is quite secondary. Dore' was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1861.