Blackstone, Sir William, 1723–80, English jurist. At first unsuccessful in legal practice, he turned to scholarship and teaching. He became (1758) the first Vinerian professor of law at Oxford, where he inaugurated courses in English law. British universities had previously confined themselves to the study of Roman law. Blackstone published his lectures as Commentaries on the Laws of England (4 vol., 1765–69), a work that reduced to order and lucidity the formless bulk of English law. It ranks with the achievements of Sir Edward Coke and Sir Matthew Hale, Blackstone's great predecessors. Blackstone's Commentaries, written in an urbane, dignified, and clear style, is regarded as the most thorough treatment of the whole of English law ever produced by one man. It demonstrated that English law as a system of justice was comparable to Roman law and the civil law of the Continent. Blackstone has been criticized, notably by Jeremy Bentham, for a complacent belief that, in the main, English law was beyond improvement and for his failure to analyze exactly the social and historical factors underlying legal systems. Blackstone's book exerted tremendous influence on the legal profession and on the teaching of law in England and in the United States. In his later life Blackstone resumed practice, served in Parliament, was solicitor general to the queen, and was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

Bibliography

See The Sovereignty of the Law, selections from Blackstone's Commentaries, ed. and with an introd. by G. Jones (1973); biography by O. A. Lockmiller (1938); J. Bentham, A Comment on the Commentaries (ed. by C. W. Everett, 1928); P. Lucas, Essays in the Margin of Blackstone's Commentaries (1962).

Blackstone, Sir William

(born July 10, 1723, London, Eng.—died Feb. 14, 1780, Wallingford, Oxfordshire) British jurist. Orphaned at age 12, he was educated at public school and later at Pembroke College, Oxford, at the expense of his uncle, a London surgeon. He was elected a fellow of All Souls College in 1744, and in 1746 he became a barrister. Having taken a doctorate in civil law in 1750, he abandoned his legal practice in 1753 to concentrate on teaching and legal work around Oxford. He gave the first university lectures on English common law, publishing a synopsis for students in 1756. He was elected to the first chair in common law, the Vinerian professorship at Oxford, in 1758. His classic Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–69) is the best-known description of the doctrines of English law; it became the basis of university legal education in England and North America. He also served as a member of Parliament (1761–70), as solicitor general to the queen (from 1763), and as judge of the Court of Common Pleas (1770–80).