Sir William Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England 17651769 standsas the first great effort to reduce the English common law to a unified andrational s... » 

Sir William Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England 17651769 standsas the first great effort to reduce the English common law to a unified andrational system. Blackstone demonstrated that the English law as a system ofjustice was comparable to Roman law and the civil law of the Continent. Clearlyand elegantly written the work achieved immediate renown and exerted apowerful influence on legal education in England and in America which was tolast into the late nineteenth century. The book is regarded not only as a legalclassic but as a literary masterpiece.Previously available only in an expensive hardcover set Commentaries on theLaws of England is published here in four separate volumes each one affordablypriced in a paperback edition. These works are facsimiles of the eighteenthcentury first edition and are undistorted by later interpolations. Each volumedeals with a particular field of law and carries with it an introduction by aleading contemporary scholar.Introducing this second volume Of the Rights of Things A. W. Brian Simpsondiscusses the history of Blackstones theory of various aspects of propertyrightsreal property feudalism estates titles personal property andcontractsand the work of his predecessors. «