William Blackstone

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, justice and Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-known description of the doctrines of the English common law. Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1738. After switching to and completing a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, he was made a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, on 2 November 1743, admitted to Middle Temple, and called to the Bar there in 1746. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone became heavily involved in university administration, becoming accountant, treasurer and bursar on 28 November 1746 and Senior Bursar in 1750. Blackstone is considered responsible for completing the Codrington Library and Warton Building, and simplifying the complex accounting system used by the college. On 3 July 1753 he formally gave up his practice as a barrister and instead embarked on a series of lectures on English law, the first of their kind. These were massively successful, earning him a total of £453 (£}} in terms), and led to the publication of ''An Analysis of the Laws of England'' in 1756, which repeatedly sold out and was used to preface his later works.

On 20 October 1759 Blackstone was confirmed as the first Vinerian Professor of English Law, immediately embarking on another series of lectures and publishing a similarly successful second treatise, titled ''A Discourse on the Study of the Law''. With his growing fame, he successfully returned to the bar and maintained a good practice, also securing election as Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Hindon on 30 March 1761. In November 1765 he published the first of four volumes of ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', considered his ''magnum opus''; the completed work earned Blackstone £14,000 (£}} in terms). After repeated failures, he successfully gained appointment to the judiciary as a justice of the Court of King's Bench on 16 February 1770, leaving to replace Edward Clive as a justice of the Common Pleas on 25 June. He remained in this position until his death, on 14 February 1780.

Blackstone's four-volume ''Commentaries'' were designed to provide a complete overview of English law and were repeatedly republished in 1770, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1778 and in a posthumous edition in 1783. Reprints of the first edition, intended for practical use rather than antiquary interest, were published until the 1870s in England and Wales, and a working version by Henry John Stephen, first published in 1841, was reprinted until after the Second World War. Legal education in England had stalled; Blackstone's work gave the law "at least a veneer of scholarly respectability". William Searle Holdsworth, one of Blackstone's successors as Vinerian Professor, argued that "If the Commentaries had not been written when they were written, I think it very doubtful that the United States, and other English speaking countries would have so universally adopted the common law." In the United States, the ''Commentaries'' influenced Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, James Wilson, John Jay, John Adams, James Kent and Abraham Lincoln, and remain frequently cited in Supreme Court decisions. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 181 - 200 results of 222 for search 'Blackstone, William, 1723-1780', query time: 0.04s Refine Results
  1. 181
    by Member of Lincoln's Inn
    Published 1868
    Oxford : J. Vincent, 1868.
    vi, 70 p. ; 19 cm.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  2. 182
    Toronto : Carswell, 1896.
    1 online resource (viii, 458 pages)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  3. 183
    Detroit, Mich. : Collector Pub. Co., [1897]
    1 online resource (30 pages)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  4. 184
    Published 1837
    Manepy [Ceylon] : Jaffna Book Society : American Mission Press, 1837.
    65 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  5. 185
    Published 1789
    Dublin : Printed for Messrs. Chamberlaine, Colles, Lynch, Burnet, Moncrieffe, Wilson, Cross, Walker, White, Exshaw, and Byrne, M, DCC, LXXXIX [1789]
    1 online resource (2 volumes)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  6. 186
    London : Stevens and Sons, [1880?]
    98 p. ; 32 cm.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  7. 187
    St. Louis : Soule, Thomas & Wentworth, 1876.
    1 online resource (425 pages)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  8. 188
    Boston : Boston Book Co., 1889.
    xii, 611 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  9. 189
    by Furneaux, Philip, 1726-1783
    Published 1770
    London : Printed for T. Cadell, MDCCLXX [1770]
    1 online resource (xv, 166 pages)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  10. 190
    by Stewart, James, 1805-1860
    Published 1837
    London : E. Spettigue, 1837.
    xvi, 273, xiv, [275]-282 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  11. 191
    by Meredith, William, 1725?-1790
    Published 1770
    London : Printed for G. Woodfall ... and Messrs. Richardson and Urquhart ..., 1770.
    60 pages.
    Also issued in microfiche.
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  12. 192
    Albany, N.Y. : Matthew Bender, 1915.
    xvi, 867 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  13. 193
    by Blickensderfer, Ulric, b. 1845
    Published 1877
    Chicago : E.B. Myers, 1877.
    2 v.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  14. 194
    Chicago : Callaghan, [1922?]
    245-406 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  15. 195
    by Kinne, Asa
    Published 1839
    New York : W.E. Dean, c1839.
    266 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  16. 196
    Boston : Soule and Bugbee, c1882.
    xii, 611 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  17. 197
    by Member of Lincoln's Inn
    Published 1859
    Oxford : J. Vincent, 1859.
    vii, 75 p. ; 18 cm.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  18. 198
    by Devereux, John C.
    Published 1886
    New York : Baker, Voorhis, 1886.
    xxii, 392 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  19. 199
    by Devereux, John C.
    Published 1873
    New York : Baker, Voorhis, 1873.
    xxii, 392 p.
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    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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  20. 200
    by Devereux, John C.
    Published 1891
    New York : Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1891.
    1 online resource (xxii, 392 pages)
    Other Authors: “...Blackstone, William, 1723-1780...”
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