A Discourse on the Study of the Law; Being an Introductory Lecture.

Blackstone, Sir William

Published by Publication Date: 1758

London, 1758. 1st ed. The Genesis of Blackstone's Commentaries Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. A Discourse on the Study of the Law; Being an Introductory Lecture, Read in the Public Schools, October XXV, M.DCC.LVIII. Published by Direction of the Vice-Chancellor, Heads of Houses, And Proctors. Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1758. 40 pp. Quarto (10" x 8"). Superb period-style calf by Philip Dusel, raised bands, gilt fillets and lettering piece to spine, gilt tooling to board edges. Light toning, light foxing to a few leaves, soiling and two later library stamps to title page, another library stamp to pp. 23 and 39, discreet repairs to edges of title page and final leaf. A handsomely bound copy. $1,500. * First edition. This is the published version of Blackstone's inaugural lecture as Vinerian professor of English law. Presented to a large audience, it was, notes Prest, "[h]astened into print less than a fortnight later as A Discourse on the Study of the Law [and] by late December a London correspondent claimed to hear Blackstone's lecture 'commended wherever I go.' What one reviewer terms 'this sensible, spirited, and manly exhortation to the study of the law' was reprinted in a further thousand copies next year; it also prefaced subsequent editions of the Analysis of the Laws, and eventually the first volume of the Commentaries." Prest, William Blackstone 151. Eller, The William Blackstone Collection in the Yale Law Library 233. Laeuchli, A Bibliographical Catalog of William Blackstone 542. Seller Inventory # 72614

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Discourse on the Study of the Law; Being ...
Publication Date: 1758
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: London, 1758. 1st ed.
Edition: 1st Edition