Commentaries on the Laws of England, Volume 2: A Facsimile of the First Edition of 1765-1769Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769) stands as the first great effort to reduce the English common law to a unified and rational system. Blackstone demonstrated that the English law as a system of justice was comparable to Roman law and the civil law of the Continent. Clearly and elegantly written, the work achieved immediate renown and exerted a powerful influence on legal education in England and in America which was to last into the late nineteenth century. The book is regarded not only as a legal classic but as a literary masterpiece. Previously available only in an expensive hardcover set, Commentaries on the Laws of England is published here in four separate volumes, each one affordably priced in a paperback edition. These works are facsimiles of the eighteenth-century first edition and are undistorted by later interpolations. Each volume deals with a particular field of law and carries with it an introduction by a leading contemporary scholar. Introducing this second volume, Of the Rights of Things, A. W. Brian Simpson discusses the history of Blackstone's theory of various aspects of property rights—real property, feudalism, estates, titles, personal property, and contracts—and the work of his predecessors. |
Contents
1 | |
2 Of Real Property and first of Corporeal Hereditaments | 16 |
3 Of Incorporeal Hereditaments | 20 |
4 Of the Feudal Sysetm | 44 |
5 Of the Ancient English Tenures | 59 |
6 Of the Modern English Tenures | 78 |
7 Of Freehold Estates of Inheritance | 103 |
8 Of Freeholds Not of Inheritance | 120 |
18 Of Title by Forfeiture | 267 |
19 Of Title by Alienation | 287 |
20 Of Alienation by Deed | 295 |
21 Of Alienation by matter of Record | 344 |
22 Of Alienation by Special Custom | 365 |
23 Of Alienation by Devise | 373 |
24 Of Things Personal | 384 |
25 Of Property in Things Personal | 389 |
9 Of Estates Less than Freehold | 140 |
10 Of Estates upon Condition | 152 |
11 Of Estates in Possession Remainder and Reversion | 163 |
12 Of Estates in Severalty JointTenancy Coparcenary and Common | 179 |
13 Of the Title to Things Real in general | 195 |
14 Of Title by Descent | 200 |
15 Of Title by Purchase and first by Escheat | 241 |
16 Of Title by Occupancy | 258 |
17 Of Title by Prescription | 263 |
26 Of Title to Things Personal by Occupancy | 400 |
27 Of Title by Prerogative and Forfeiture | 408 |
28 Of Title by Custom | 422 |
29 Of Title by Succession Marriage and Judgment | 430 |
30 Of Title by Gift Grant and Contract | 440 |
31 Of Title by Bankruptcy | 471 |
32 Of Title by Testament and Administration | 489 |
Appendix | i |
Other editions - View all
Commentaries on the Laws of England, Volume 2 Knight William Blackstone, Sir No preview available - 2015 |
Commentaries on the Laws of England, Volume 2 Knight William Blackstone, Sir No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
abfolute adminiſtration affigns againſt alfo alienation alſo anceſtors antient bankrupt becauſe blood cafe caſe chattels common law confent confequence confideration contract conveyance copyhold courſe court creditors cuſtom debts deceaſed deed defcended deſcent deviſe dower Edward Coke efcheat eftate eldeſt emblements eſtabliſhed eſtate executor expreffed faid fame fecond fee-fimple feifin feodal feoffment feud fhall fince firſt focage fome forfeiture fpecies freehold fuch fuffered fufficient grant hath heirs hereditaments himſelf houſes huſband Ibid iffue Inft inheritance intereſt iſſue itſelf John Stiles joint-tenants king lands laſt leaſe Litt lord manor moſt muſt neceffary obſerved otherwiſe owner perfon poffeffion poffibility preſent purchaſe purpoſes reaſon remainder rent reſpect reverfion ſaid ſame ſeems ſeiſed ſervice ſeveral ſhall ſhould ſome ſpecial ſpecies ſtate ſtatute Stiles ſtill ſubject ſuch tail tenant tenements tenure themſelves theſe thing thoſe unleſs uſe uſually vefted veſted villein villenage wife