Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1765. First edition set of Blackstone's landmark work. Quarto, 4 volumes, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, red morocco title labels lettered, raised bands. In near fine condition, rebacked. A very sharp set. Blackstone's work succeeded that of Edward Coke as the foundational treatise on English law. PMM states "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." The influence of Blackstone on the Founding Fathers should not be understated. While Jefferson ultimately grew to dislike Blackstone, Hamilton cited the Commentaries in Federalists No. 69 and 84 to bolster the case for the Constitution. Grolier/English 52; PMM 212; Rothschild 407.

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Bookseller: Raptis Rare Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 139240
Title: Commentaries on the Laws of England.
Author: Blackstone, William
Book Condition: Used
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Printed at the Clarendon Press
Place of Publication: Oxford
Date Published: 1765
Keywords: Commentaries on the Laws of England First edition, William Blackstone First Edition
Note: May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.

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About Raptis Rare Books

Founded by Matthew and Adrienne Raptis, Raptis Rare Books is an antiquarian book firm that specializes in literature, children's books, economics, photo books, signed and inscribed books, and landmark books in all fields. Our business model is simple: we strive to handle books that are in exceptional condition and to provide exceptional customer service.

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Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Gilt: The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Quarto: The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Rebacked: having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
Morocco: Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
Raised Band(s): Raised bands refer to the ridges that protrude slightly from the spine on leather bound books. The bands are created in the...
Calf: Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...