An Analysis of the Laws of England is a legal treatise by British legal professor William Blackstone. It was first published by the Clarendon Press in 1756. A Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and a lecturer there, on 3 July 1753 Blackstone announced his intentions to give a set of lectures on the common law — the first lectures of that sort in the world.[1] A prospectus was issued on 23 June 1753, and with a class of approximately 20 students, the first lecture series was completed by July 1754. Despite Blackstone's limited oratory skills and a speaking style described by Jeremy Bentham as "formal, precise and affected", Blackstone's lectures were warmly appreciated.[2] The second and third series were far more popular, partially due to his then unusual use of printed handouts and lists of suggested reading. These show Blackstone's attempts to reduce English law to a logical system, with the division of subjects later being the basis for his Commentaries.[3][4] The lecture series brought him £116, £226 and £111 a year respectively from 1753 to 1755 — a total of £89,000 in 2024 terms.[5] Seeing the success of this publication, Blackstone was induced to write An Analysis of the Laws of England, a 200-page introduction to English law, which was first published in 1756 by the Clarendon Press.[6]
Analysis begins with a summary of the ways that English law had been subdivided until that time. Blackstone examined the methods of Ranulf de Glanvill, Henry de Bracton and Matthew Hale, concluding that Hale's method was superior to the others. As such, Hale's distribution "hath therefore been principally followed" [by Blackstone in An Analysis . . ], albeit with some amendments.[7] The treatise is "a marked advance on any previous introduction to English law . . including constitutional, civil and criminal law, public and private law, substantive law and procedure, as well as some introductory jurisprudential content".[8] The initial print run of 1,000 copies almost immediately sold out, leading to the printing of three additional 1,000-book lots over the next three years, which also sold out. A fifth edition was published in 1762,[9] and a sixth, edited to take into account Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, in 1771.[10] Many of the later editions were prefaced with copies of Blackstone's A Discourse on the Study of the Law, first published in 1758.[11] Because of the success of the Commentaries, Prest remarks that "relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to this work";[8] at the time, however, it was hailed as "an elegant performance...calculated to facilitate this branch of knowledge".[9]
^Holdsworth (1932) p. 262
^Prest (2008) p. 114
^Prest (2008) pp. 115-7
^Simpson (1981) p. 652
^Prest (2008) p. 112
^Prest (2008) p. 142
^Finnis (1967) p. 164
^ abPrest (2008) p. 143
^ abPrest (2008) p. 144
^Cairns (1984) p. 340
^Prest (2008) p. 151
and 27 Related for: An Analysis of the Laws of England information
The Institutes oftheLawesofEngland are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and...
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out ofthe codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598...
New EnglandLaw | Boston (formerly New England School ofLaw) is a private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School ofLaw in...
A Bachelor ofLaws (Latin: Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and...
Blackstone – An Analysis of the LawsofEngland Edmund Burke – A Vindication of Natural Society Alban Butler – The Lives ofthe Fathers, Martyrs, and Other...
King ofEngland, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King...
parliament enacted the Clarendon Code, to shore up the position ofthe re-established Church ofEngland. Charles acquiesced to these new laws even though he...
The regions ofEngland, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. They were established...
– 16 September 1701) was King ofEngland and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on...
Queen ofEngland and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last monarch ofthe House of Tudor. Elizabeth was the only surviving...
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved April 10, 2022. Chiu, Monica (2009). Asian Americans in New England: Culture...
Gun laws in Australia are predominantly within the jurisdiction of Australian states and territories, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal...
Age of consent reform is an effort to change age of consent laws. Proposed reforms typically include raising, lowering, or abolishing the age of consent...
definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the art of justice. State-enforced laws can be made by a...
and use of small arms by civilians. Lawsof some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring...
consists ofthe principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection oflaws and rules that govern the operation...
Sources oflaw are the origins oflaws, the binding rules that enable any state to govern its territory. The terminology was already used in Rome by Cicero...
Henry of Winchester, was King ofEngland, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême...
was King ofEngland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king ofthe Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His...
Beauclerc, was King ofEngland from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts...