William Blackstone
Oxford professor whose Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69) taught the founders English law.
Answers come only from his own recorded words, with every quotation checked against its source.
Who he was
William Blackstone was an Oxford professor and the author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69).
The Commentaries set out the absolute rights of individuals as personal security, personal liberty and private property, and defined the liberty of the press as "laying no previous restraints upon publications."
Why he is at the Seat
Blackstone is on the Lutz-based roster. His Commentaries taught the founders English law, so he is the Seat's voice on the rights of Englishmen that the colonists claimed.
What we hold
- Editions
- Commentaries on the Laws of England, Sharswood edition (2 vols.)
- Size
- About 1.2 million words, of which about two thirds are later editors' notes. Word counts are whole files, so they include editors' headnotes and footnotes.
Known limits
- The Commentaries only; his minor law tracts and letters are absent.
- The notes of Sharswood, Christian and Chitty are about two thirds of the passages. They are labelled as editors' notes, never as Blackstone's words.
Questions he answers well
The questions his engine was tested on before it opened.
- What are the rights of Englishmen, and what does the liberty of the press mean?
Published answers
- What does the liberty of the press mean, and what are its limits?
- Why is it better that the guilty escape than that the innocent suffer?
- What is the common law, and how do judges find it?
- How should punishments be proportioned to crimes?
- What is the right to keep arms for self defense?
- Is the king above the law?
- Why is trial by jury the glory of English law?
- What are the absolute rights of individuals?
- What are the rights of Englishmen, and what does the liberty of the press mean?
More in Prior Questions.