Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1765, 1766, 1768, 1769. Four volumes. Volume I includes the appended Supplement to the First Edition: Containing the Most Material Corrections and Additions in the Second [Oxford: S.N., 1766] [8] pp. Volume II has copperplate “Table of Consanguinity” and fold-out “Table of Descents.” Quarto (8-1/2" x 10-1/2"). Recent period style calf, gilt rules to boards, raised bands, gilt titles and gilt ornaments to spines, marbled endpapers, speckled edges. Light foxing in a few places, clean horizontal tear to leaf in Volume IV mended with archival tape, fore-edge of “Table of Descents” trimmed with minor loss. Early annotation (20675) to verso of Volume I title page, early owner signature (of Hudson Calvert) to heads of other title pages. Balance of interior clean and fresh. A very handsome set.    $15,000.

* First editions. With the very uncommon Supplement, which was also issued separately. The most influential publication in the history of modern Anglo-American law, the Commentaries on the Laws of England is based on a course of lectures delivered at Oxford University. Because they were not intended for aspiring practitioners, they described general principles rather than practical specifics. Sensitive to the systematizing trends of the day and the prestige of the natural sciences, he described the common law as an intricate, well-designed system akin to Newton’s mechanistic universe. It was also an important account of the law’s evolution. As Holdsworth notes, “the Commentaries are not only a statement of the law of Blackstone’s day, but the best history of English law as a whole which had yet appeared...The skillful manner in which Blackstone uses his authorities new and old, and the analogy of other systems of law, to illustrate the evolution of the law of his day, had a vast influence, both in England and America, in implanting in the profession a sound tradition of the historical development of the law.”
     The early publication history of the Commentaries is confusing. Before publishing Volumes III and IV in 1768 and 1769, Blackstone issued second editions of Volumes I and II in 1766 and 1777. Third editions of I and II appeared in 1768 and 1769. Throughout this period Blackstone did not issue second or third editions of III and IV. In 1770 all four volumes were revised for the fourth edition. Given this publication history, sets with mixtures of the first, second and third editions are more common than uniform first editions. The Supplement was an interim publication issued in advance of the second edition of Volume I. In some cases it is bound to later printings of first editions of that volume. OCLC locates 5 copies of the Supplement. Holdsworth, The Historians of English Law 22. Eller. See illustration on front cover and below.

London: Printed for John Churchill, 1714. Three volumes. Engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume I. Folio (7-3/4" x 12-1/4"). Contemporary paneled speckled calf, raised bands, gilt spines with raised bands and lettering pieces, top edges rouged. Moderate rubbing with wear to extremities, corners bumped, joints and hinges cracked but secure. Later owner signatures to front pastedown of Volume I, clean tears to margins of two leaves, interiors notably fresh otherwise. An impressive set.    $4,500.

* First collected edition of Locke’s work. Contents include An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money, Two Treatises on Government, the Letters Concerning Toleration, Some Thoughts Concerning Education and a selection of Locke’s correspondence. “Much of Locke’s work is characterized by opposition to authoritarianism. This opposition is both on the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. For the individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition. He wants us to proportion assent to propositions to the evidence for them. On the level of institutions it becomes important to distinguish the legitimate from the illegitimate functions of institutions and to make the corresponding distinction for the uses of force by these institutions. The positive side of Locke’s anti-authoritarianism is that he believes that using reason to try to grasp the truth, and determining the legitimate functions of institutions will optimize human flourishing for the individual and society both in respect to its material and spiritual welfare. This in turn, amounts to following natural law and the fulfillment of the divine purpose for humanity.”: Uzgalis, William, “John Locke,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Online Edition). BMC 15:713.