Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England: Four books in 2 volumes

Two volumes. Originally published: Chicago: Callaghan and Company, 1884. First issued in 1870, "Cooley's Blackstone" was the standard American edition of the late nineteenth century. Perhaps the most important legal treatise ever written in the English language, Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69) was the first effort to consolidate English common law into a unified and rational system. Clearly and elegantly written, the work achieved immediate renown and exerted a powerful influence on legal education both in England and America.