Lectures on the Constitution and Laws of England... 2 vols.
The Essential American Premiere of Sullivan's Lectures: A Definitive Companion to Blackstone Sullivan, Francis Stoughton [1719-1776]. Stuart, Gilbert, Editor. Lectures on the Constitution and Laws of England: With a Commentary on Magna Charta, And Illustrations of Many of the English Statutes. To Which Authorities are Added, and a Discourse is Prefixed, Concerning the Laws and Government of England. Portland: Printed by Thomas B. Wait and Co., 1805. 2 volumes. 325, [1]; 327, [1] pp. Publisher advertisements for an "Elegant Edition of Blackstone's Commentaries" to last page of Vol. II. Octavo (8" x 4-1/2"; 20.2 x 11.5 cm). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets, lettering pieces and blind volume numbers to spines, blind tooling to board edges. Some rubbing and a few small shallow nicks and scuffs to bindings. Moderate toning, occasional foxing in Vol. I. Early owner signatures of H. Norcester (?) to free endpapers, struck-through owner signature to head of Vol. I title page. A very nice set in an attractive, well-preserved original binding. $650. * First and only American edition, from the second and final London edition (1776, reissued 1790). Sullivan was Royal Professor of the Common Lawat the University of Dublin. One of the first attempts to write an outline of English constitutional law, this book had its origins in a series of lectures. It was first published in 1772. While Blackstone's Commentaries offered a detailed overview, Sullivan's lectures provided the essential foundational bridge for the student. Because Sullivan wrote for those without access to the Westminster courts, his work meticulously explains fundamental legal mechanics that Blackstone assumed his readers already knew. Holdsworth notes that Sullivan wrote a more elementary work than Blackstone's Commentaries because his students were "less advanced" and didn't have opportunities to attend the Westminster courts. His work is thus more elementary in its scope, but also more detailed because it explains several matters that are only implied or omitted altogether in Blackstone. This book is thus an excellent companion to Blackstone and a valuable primary source for the study of eighteenth-century English common law. Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:342-343. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 6374.
Price: $650.00
Book number 85735