Book Cover of Commentaries on the Laws of England

Commentaries on the Laws of England. Book 1

by William Blackstone

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. The work is as much an apologia for the legal system of the time as it is an explanation; even when the law was obscure, Blackstone sought to make it seem rational, just, and inevitable that things should be how they were.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1765

Authors

William Blackstone image

Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle-class family...

Books by William Blackstone

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

Embankment at Night, before the War: Outcasts Cover image

Embankment at Night, before the War: Outcasts by D. H. Lawrence

This was the Weekly Poem for 20 May 2006. We stretched our poetry-reading muscles with five versions of this much longer selection than usual (some 96...

The Chronicles of America Volume 15 - Jefferson and his Colleagues Cover image

The Chronicles of America Volume 15 - Jefferson and his Colleagues by Allen Johnson

Unravel the extraordinary lives and political intrigue of America's founding fathers as they forge a nation on the principles of liberty and democracy...

Novum Organum Cover image

Novum Organum by Francis Bacon

The Novum Organum, fully Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation o...

Droll Stories of Isthmian Life Cover image

Droll Stories of Isthmian Life by Evelyn Saxton

Evelyn Saxton's 'Droll Stories of Isthmian Life' offers a glimpse into the unique and often humorous aspects of life on the Isthmus. Through a collect...

To The Duchesse of Newcastle, On Her New Blazing-World Cover image

To The Duchesse of Newcastle, On Her New Blazing-World by William Cavendish

Venture beyond the boundaries of reality and into the realm of boundless imagination with William Cavendish's "To The Duchesse of Newcastle, On Her Ne...

The Life of Columbus Cover image

The Life of Columbus by Sir Arthur Helps

This is a captivating historical book that delves into the remarkable journey. This book provides a vivid account of Columbus' life, his struggles, an...

Mark Twain: A Biography - Volume III Cover image

Mark Twain: A Biography - Volume III by Albert Bigelow Pain

This compelling third volume continues the epic journey of a man who embodied the spirit of America in the 19th century. From the glistening banks of...

The Passing of the Great Race Cover image

The Passing of the Great Race by Madison Grant

First published in 1916, this eye-opening treatise became a touchstone for the dark undercurrents of society's belief in racial superiority and the co...

Topics Cover image

Topics by Aristotle

The Topics is the name given to one of Aristotle's six works on logic collectively known as the Organon. The treatise presents the art of dialectic —...

Wars of the Roses 1377-1471 Cover image

Wars of the Roses 1377-1471 by Robert Balmain Mowat

Robert Balmain Mowat's "Wars of the Roses" delves into the tumultuous period of English history marked by the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster...

Reviews for Commentaries on the Laws of England. Book 1

No reviews posted or approved, yet...