Reprint of the rare sole edition. Originally published: Philadelphia: William Young Birch and Abraham Small, 1803. 5 Volumes. xvi, xviii, star-paged 120, [2], 446, [1]; [ix], star-paged 485, 118; [viii], iv, star-paged 520, xiv, 112; [viii], iv, star-paged 455, 74, [1]; [viii], iii, star-paged 443, vii, 60, [51] pp. Reprinted 1996, 2011 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a New Critical Introduction by Paul Finkelman and David Cobin. * The "American Blackstone." A monumental work of continuing relevance, this reprint edition is prefaced by a new critical introduction by Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, Albany Law Schooland David Cobin, Professor, Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul Minnesota. Tucker's Blackstone is a key resource for understanding how Americans viewed English common law in the years following the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Based on his lectures at the College of William and Mary, Tucker interprets Blackstone's often antidemocratic viewpoint in an American context. A strong proponent of the First Amendment, he elaborates a theory of free speech that is more expansive than in the English tradition. More recently, Tucker's Blackstone has been cited in numerous constitutional cases by the U.S. Supreme Court relating to "original intent." Reprint of the rare sole edition. "Tucker's Blackstone became a standard reference work for manyAmerican lawyers unable to consult a law library, especially those on the frontier. It is impossible to measure its impact on American law, but it is clear that sales were strongest in Virginia, as could be expected; it was also widely used in Pennsylvania and South Carolina." William H. Bryson, The Virginia Law Reporter Before 1800 102. Tucker's Blackstone has been cited in numerous cases by the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to discern the original intent of the Constitution.Sir William Blackstone [1723-1780], a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, was a bencher of the Middle Temple, Vinerian Professor of Law at Oxford, and a member of Parliament. In 1763 he became solicitor general to the queen and was knighted in 1770. His Commentaries on the Laws of England [1765-69] is the most influential publication in the history of Anglo-American law. In its many editions by Tucker and others it remained the standard legal textbook in America into the late nineteenth century and was the primary, or only, book studied by hundreds of self-taught lawyers, such as Abraham Lincoln.St. George Tucker [1752-1827] was a professor of law at College of William and Mary. In 1804 he was appointed to the Virginia Court of Appeals in Richmond.