BLACKSTONE (William).
Tracts, chiefly relating to the antiquities and laws of England.
A choice copy of the so-called ‘third edition’ of this collection of tracts and shorter writings by the great English jurist William Blackstone (1723-1780), best-known for his monumental Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69).
The first edition of Blackstone’s Tracts was originally published in two octavo volumes in 1762. No second edition exists; only a counterfeit Dublin reprint of the first edition published in 1767. The present ‘third edition’ includes all but one of the tracts from the 1762 edition, with the addition of two tracts: ‘An Analysis of the Laws of England,’ and ‘Observations on the English Press.’ All of the tracts had originally appeared separately, but were revised for their appearance in the collected editions.
Eller, The William Blackstone Collection in the Yale Law Library, 240.
