Lot Details
Lot 151
BLACKSTONE, WILLIAM Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: printed at the Clarendon Press, 1766-[66?]-68-69. Second ed...
. Oxford: printed at the Clarendon Press, 1766-[66?]-68-69. Second edition of volumes 1 [and likely volume 2, which lacks its title], first editions of volumes 3 and 4. Four volumes. Later half morocco. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (28 x 22 cm); I: (iv), iv-(viii), 485 pp.; II: (vi of viii), 520, xix pp.; III: viii, 455, (1), xxvii pp.; IV: viii, 436, vii, (i), index. Titles stamped and with ink signatures "Wm Jones," bookplates of "William Wylie" and "M.V. Buren," title lacking in volume 2 as noted, ink notations and some spots, light foxing and other wear, sold with all faults.
PMM states "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." Grolier/English 52; PMM 212; Rothschild 407.
C The New York City Bar Association
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