This collection explores the remarkable impact and continuing influence of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, from the work's original publication in the 1760s down to the present. Contributions by legal and literary scholars, as well as by cultural and intellectual historians, trace the manner in which this truly seminal text has established its authority well beyond the author's native shores or his own limited lifespan. Following an editorial introduction, the first section - -Reading Blackstone- - discusses the Commentaries' aesthetic and literary qualities as...