This is one of the finest works in its genre. Prepared over a two-year period, it is based on the fourth federal census and is composed of 110,000 main entries and reaches some 486 pages in length. It consists chiefly of a list of heads of households in Virginia in 1820 , alphabetically arranged by surname, with the given name, the county of residence, and the location in the census schedule. A considerable number of name spelling variations are included in the list.