The History of Britannia
This article is about the main manual for Ultima IV. For a chronicle of the in-game history of the main world of the Ultima series, see History of Britannia.
The History of Britannia is one of two manuals included with Ultima IV. It is 36 pages long and written by Roe R. Adams III, fictionally as Kyle the Younger.
Description[edit]
This is the first Ultima manual entirely written from a Britannian perspective, and lacks all gameplay instructions. It was accompanied by The Book of Mystic Wisdom, which contains detailed instructions for the Britannian magical arts. The book appears in the introduction sequence of Ultima IV, wherein the player is instructed to read it following its discovery by the player character. The book provides an objective overview of the land's history and the particulars of its society, thus helping the player – like the Stranger – understand the substantial changes the land has undergone. However, the actual objective of Avatarhood is only hinted at, with Lord British explaining he could give more details when being visited.
Book Content[edit]
- Political History of Britannia
- Geography
- Professions
- Shops
- Transportation
- Weapons and armour
- Magical Arts
- Bestiary
- Combat and ethics of war
- Contemporary civilization
- Afterword from Lord British
Other Editions[edit]
There are different versions of this book. The release by the publisher U.S. Gold was printed on smooth, yellowish paper and the cover is just black on the same paper. The release for the Japanese MSX-computers was translated (it stayed content-wise the same) and also only printed in monochrome on yellowish paper. The also Japanese release for the FM Towns had a totally different cover, but is content-wise like the original, apart from the translation. There also is a rare French release that combines both books and is fully translated.
For the Sega-port of Ultima IV, the book was somewhat shrunk down in size, but stayed content-wise the same. Each of the three languages sport a different cover color (blue=English, red=French, yellow=German) and it was fully translated. For some unknown reason, Britannia was renamed "Britannien" in the German book.
The foreign language titles are as follows:
- "Die Geschichte von Britannien" (German)
- "L'histoire de Britannia" (French)
The book was later re-printed in The Age of Virtue manual with some minor adjustments.
Alternate Covers[edit]
Cover of the U.S. Gold release
Cover of the Japanese MSX version
Cover of the English SMS version
Cover of the German SMS version
Cover of the French SMS version
Cover of the Japanese FM Towns version
External Links[edit]
- The History of Britannia (HTML)
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – scanned
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – searchable
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – high quality
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – Japanese edition
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – U.S. Gold release
- The History of Britannia (PDF) – Master System version
| Ultima Game Manuals | |
|---|---|
| Age of Darkness | Akalabeth (manual) ☥ Ultima I (Playbook, manual) ☥ Ultima II (manual) ☥ Ultima III (play guide, cleric guide, wizard guide) |
| Age of Enlightenment | Ultima IV (History of Britannia, Mystic Wisdom) ☥ Ultima V (Book of Lore, journal) ☥ Ultima VI (Compendium) |
| Age of Armageddon | Ultima VII (Fellowship, Isle of Fire) ☥ Ultima VII Part Two (Serpent Pillars, Silver Seed) ☥ Ultima VIII (Chronicle) ☥ Ultima IX (Spellbook, journal) |
| Underworld | Underworld (Memoirs) ☥ Underworld II (Safe Passage) |
| Worlds of Ultima | Savage Empire (Ultimate Adventures) ☥ Martian Dreams (Red Planet, Time Travel) |
| Compilations | Ultima Trilogy I (Trilogy manual) ☥ Ultima Trilogy II (The Age of Virtue) ☥ Ultima Collection (Ultima Atlas) |
| Other | Shroud of the Avatar (Adventurer's Manual) |
| Ultima Console Games Manuals | |
|---|---|
| Age of Darkness | Ultima III (manual), (Hint Book) |
| Age of Enlightenment | Ultima IV (NES) (manual) ☥ Ultima IV (SMS) (History of Britannia, Mystic Wisdom) ☥ Ultima V (manual) ☥ Ultima VI (Japan) (Compendium) |
| Age of Armageddon | Ultima VII (Japan) (Fellowship) |
| Others | Runes of Virtue (manual) ☥ Runes of Virtue II (manual) ☥ Underworld (Memoirs) ☥ Savage Empire (Ultimate Adventures) |