Blackstone’s Commentaries 1765
William Blackstone (1723–1780)
Although William Blackstone had a varied career—attorney, college administrator, Oxford University chaired professor, member of Parliament, solicitor general to the queen, judge on the Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Common Pleas—his most lasting contribution and source of enduring renown is his Commentaries on the Laws of England.
From 1765 to 1769, the Clarendon Press in Oxford released the four volumes of his opus.
It divided English common law into four categories: