The Oxford Edition of Blackstone's: Commentaries on the Laws of England

a unique and valuable contribution to scholarship … future scholars will benefit immensely from this exceptionally valuable contribution to legal history. * Ian Williams, The Journal of Legal History *Blackstone’s Commentaries remain a central source for understanding both historical and modern Anglo-American law - as well as many debates in Anglo-American legal philosophy - and Oxford University Press’s new edition of the Commentaries offers a valuable new resource for studying them. * Brian Bix, Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy, Jotwell *Reading the Commentaries sheds light on the character of English law before the establishment of legal positivism, and for that reason it may hold a special interest for scholars. * Dick Helmholz, New Rambler *

William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) was a prominent public figure in the eighteenth century. Judge and jurist, barrister and politician, his work has had a profound influence on the Anglo-American legal tradition. The first Vinerian Professor of English Law, Blackstone was a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas at the time of his death. The Commentaries published in eight editions in his lifetime, and a posthumous ninth edition in 1783.

Wilfrid Prest

Wilfrid Prest is Professor Emeritus of Law and History at the University of Adelaide. He is the author of William Blackstone: Law and Letters in the Eighteenth Century as well as many other works of legal history.