Commentaries on the Laws of England by {author}: summary and why it matters
William Blackstone's four-volume survey of English law, 1765 to 1769, the textbook through which common-law ideas reached the American founders.
The book
| Author | William Blackstone |
|---|---|
| First published | 1765 |
| First publisher | Clarendon Press |
| Kind of book | Legal treatise |
What it argues
Blackstone, an Oxford lecturer, arranged the English common law into a clear system in four volumes: the rights of persons, the rights of things, private wrongs and public wrongs. He described the common law as a body of customary rules refined over time and defended the English constitution as a balance among king, lords and commons.
Among the principles he laid out are the absolute rights of individuals, such as personal security, personal liberty and private property, which Parliament was bound to respect; the presumption of innocence, in the famous maxim that it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer; and the high regard for jury trial and habeas corpus.
The treatise also treats Parliament's sovereignty, a doctrine the American colonists rejected.
Why it matters
Thousands of copies were sold in the colonies, and lawyers like Adams, Jefferson and Marshall learned their law from it. The phrases of the Bill of Rights draw on it, and conservatives who defend property rights, jury trial and the common law as the root of liberty go back to it.
About the author
Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) was an English jurist who became the first holder of the Vinerian Chair of English Law at Oxford in 1758, and later a judge. His lectures were published in four volumes between 1765 and 1769. An American edition appeared in Philadelphia in 1771 and 1772, and St. George Tucker later annotated it for American readers.
Who should read it
Law students and history readers. An abridged or selected edition will serve.
Sources
Profile last reviewed November 8, 2026