Oxford''s variorum edition of William Blackstone''s seminal treatise on the common law of England and Wales offers the definitive account of the Commentaries'' development in a modern format. For the first time it is possible to trace the evolution of English law and Blackstone''s thought through the eight editions of Blackstone''s lifetime, and the authorial corrections of the posthumous ninth edition. Introductions by the general editor and the volume editors set the Commentaries in their historical context, examining Blackstone''s distinctive view of the common law, and editorial notes throughout the four volumes assist the modern reader in understanding this key text in the Anglo-American common law tradition. Property law is the subject of Book II, the second and longest volume of Blackstone''s Commentaries. His lucid exposition covers feudalism and its history, real estate and the forms of tenure that a land-owner may have, and personal property, including the new kinds of intangible property that were developing in Blackstone''s era, such as negotiable instruments and intellectual property.
