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An analysis of the laws of England

by Sir William Blackstone

Historical legal treatise analyzing and summarizing the common law of England as of the mid 1700s. Plays a somewhat similar role in North America as the basis of the common law of the United States at the time of its founding. The first systematic explication of English common law. Considered an appropriate secondary source today for certain common law questions such as the meaning of a term in a foundational U.S. document.