Title: Commentaries on the Laws of England
Author: Blackstone, William
Description: 4 volumes. [4], iv, [4], 485; [vi], 520, xix; [viii], 455, [1] blank, xxvii; [viii], 436, vii, [1] blank, [39] pp. Folding 'Table of Consanguinity' and 'Table of Descents' in vol. II. (4to) 10½x8½, period full calf. Second Edition of Volume 1; First Edition of Volumes 2-4. "Blackstone's great work on the laws of England is the extreme example of justification of an existing state of affairs by virtue of its history. Until the Commentaries, the ordinary Englishman had viewed the law as a vast, unintelligible and unfriendly machine. Blackstone's great achievement was to popularize the law and the traditions which had influenced its formation. He takes a delight in describing and defending as the essence of the constitution the often anomalous complexities which had grown into the laws of England over the centuries. But he achieves the astonishing feat of communicating this delight, and this is due to a style which is itself always lucid and graceful." (PMM 212)
Place Published: Oxford
Publisher Name: Clarendon Press
Date Published: 1766-1769

Bindings well worn and with most covers detached; internally very good with light to moderate foxing.