Commentaries on the Laws of England BLACKSTONE, Sir William English History,Law,PMM

Full Description: BLACKSTONE, Sir William. Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1766-1769 Mixed edition. Third edition of Volume I, first edition of Volumes II, III and IV. Four quarto volumes (10 7/8 x 8 3/8 inches; 275 x 212 mm.) [4], iv, [4], 485, [1, blank]; [8], 520, xix, appendix, [1, blank]; [8], 455, [1, blank], xxvii, appendix, [1, blank]; [8], 436, vii, appendix, [1, blank], [39, index], [1, blank] pp. With frontispiece portrait on Volume I. With the engraved "Table of Consanguinity" and folding "Table of Descents" in Volume II. Leaves x2 and x3 bound in reverse in Volume II. Provenance: With an inscription on front pastedown of Volume I reading "From Sir William Blackstone to his brother Henry Blackstone, M.D. 1768." This inscription is likely in the hand of the brother, Henry. Uniformly bound in contemporary full tan calf. Spines with three morocco spine labels, each, one brown and two maroon. Spines stamped in gilt. Labels lettered in gilt. Board edges tooled in gilt. Top edges dyed brown, others edges yellow. Outer hinges to volume I repaired. Other volumes with hinges cracked but holding firm. Boards a bit rubbed and scuffed. Some minor chipping to head and tail of spines. small bookseller sticker on front pastedown of volume I. Interior of volumes very clean. Overall a very good set. "Blackstone s great achievement was to popularize the law and the traditions which had influenced its formation. . If the English constitution survived the troubles of the next century, it was because the law had gained a new popular respect, and this was due in part to the enormous success of Blackstone s work" (Printing and the Mind of Man). "The Commentaries are not only a statement of the law of Blackstone's day, but the best history of English law as a whole which had yet appeared . the skilful manner in which Blackstone uses his authorities new and old, and the analogy of other systems of law, to illustrate the evolution of the law of his day, had a vast influence both in England and America, in implanting in the profession a sound tradition of the historical development of the law." Holdsworth, Historians, 22. An outstanding set of this classic, one of the cornerstones of our legal system, and still regarded as the best general history of English law. In these lectures which he gave as the first Vinerian Professor of Law at Oxford, Blackstone taught (as even his critic Bentham noted) "jurisprudence to speak the language of the scholar and gentleman." Grolier, 100 English, 52. Printing and the Mind of Man 212. Rothschild 407. HBS 69462. $4,500.