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 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 *

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.

Simon Stern teaches law and English at the University of Toronto. His publications include articles and book chapters on various aspects of Anglo-American legal and literary history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including intellectual property, obscenity, search and seizure, and criminal law. His current research examines the history and theory of legal fictions.