Audiobook · read by volunteers
Commentaries on the Laws of England. Book 1 (1765)
William Blackstone (1723–1780)
Read by Jc Guan, Graham Redman, Anna Simon, Sibella Denton, Fr. Richard Zeile of Detroit, Andrew Coleman · 49 chapters · 17 h 54
About the book
What is law, where does it come from, and why do we obey it? In the middle of the eighteenth century an English lawyer and judge set out to explain the whole law of England in clear, readable prose for students and gentlemen alike. The first volume deals with the rights of persons: the rights of citizens and the powers of the Crown, Parliament and the courts, the position of subjects, of servants, of husbands and wives and of corporations. It begins with an introduction on the study of law, the nature of laws in general and the way they apply across countries. Blackstone writes with elegance and a sense of order, so that even technical subjects become coherent. For anyone curious about the origins of English and American legal ideas, this is a landmark work.
Introduction
Sir William Blackstone, born in 1723 and died in 1780, was an English jurist, barrister, judge and politician. In 1758 he became the first holder of the Vinerian chair of English law at Oxford, where he delivered lectures that gave the subject a place in the university. Those lectures became the Commentaries on the Laws of England, published between 1765 and 1769 in four volumes by the Clarendon Press.
The Commentaries were for a long time regarded as the leading account of English common law. They were widely read in Britain and especially in the American colonies, where lawyers and statesmen relied upon them for generations, and they influenced the way law was taught and understood in both countries. Later critics found fault with some of Blackstone’s views, yet his skill in giving a systematic shape to a sprawling body of law has rarely been questioned.
This recording presents Book One, which was first published in 1765. It contains forty-nine sections and runs for about eighteen hours, read by a team of LibriVox volunteers. It will appeal to students of law and history, and to anyone who likes to see how ideas of liberty, authority and rights were discussed in the Enlightenment. The language is formal, but it is also measured and often elegant, and it rewards a patient listener.
You do not need to be a lawyer to appreciate it. Blackstone begins with broad questions about natural law, liberty and government before turning to details, and his style, though formal, is rarely dry. It is a fascinating window onto the legal and political mind of the eighteenth century, and a useful companion for anyone studying the roots of modern constitutions.
Public domain
William Blackstone died in 1780: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text