The title page of the first book of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1st ed., 1765)
The Commentaries on the Laws of England[1] (commonly, but informally known as Blackstone's Commentaries) are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford between 1765 and 1769. The work is divided into four volumes, on the rights of persons, the rights of things, of private wrongs and of public wrongs.
The Commentaries were long regarded as the leading work on the development of English law and played a role in the development of the American legal system. They were in fact the first methodical treatise on the common law suitable for a lay readership since at least the Middle Ages. The common law of England has relied on precedent more than statute and codifications and has been far less amenable than the civil law, developed from the Roman law, to the needs of a treatise. The Commentaries were influential largely because they were in fact readable, and because they met a need. As such, they were used in the training of American and British lawyers long after the death of Blackstone.
The Commentaries are often quoted as the definitive pre-Revolutionary source of common law by United States courts.[citation needed] Opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States quote from Blackstone's work whenever they wish to engage in historical discussion that goes back that far, or farther (for example, when discussing the intent of the Framers of the Constitution). The book was famously used as the key in Benedict Arnold's book cipher, which he used to communicate secretly with his conspirator John André during their plot to betray the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
^Blackstone, William, Commentaries on the Laws of England, facsimile edition with introductions by Stanley N. Katz. (Univ. Chicago, 1979). 4 vols. ISBN 0-226-05538-8, ISBN 0-226-05541-8, ISBN 0-226-05543-4, ISBN 0-226-05545-0
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noted for his CommentariesontheLawsofEngland, which became the best-known description ofthe doctrines ofthe English common law. Born into a middle-class...
(Glossarium Archaiologicum) as referenced in CommentariesontheLawsofEngland by William Blackstone. Yet another claim on this same hypothesis is from William...
implied from the conduct of parties bound by the contract. William Blackstone observed in his CommentariesontheLawsofEngland that in the seventeenth...
justices ofthe peace, sheriffs, and serjeants. The 1826 edition of William Blackstone's CommentariesontheLawsofEngland reiterated that "the title should...
important text for English law students at least until William Blackstone's CommentariesontheLawsofEngland was published in the mid-18th century. Doctor...
Vol. II, Ofthe Rights of Persons, 130. Blackstone, William (1979) [1765]. "Amendment IX, Document 1". CommentariesontheLawsofEngland. Vol. 5. Chicago:...
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History of English law is the history ofthe legal system and lawsofEngland. Coverage ofthe history of English law is provided by: Fundamental Lawsof England...
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Book I of his CommentariesontheLawsofEngland (1765), summarised the doctrine ofthe king's body politic as it subsequently developed after the Restoration:...
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