Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) was a prominent public figure in the eighteenth century. Judge and jurist, barrister and politician, his work has had a profound influence on the Anglo-American legal tradition. The first Vinerian Professor of English Law, Blackstone was a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas at the time of his death. The Commentaries published in eight editions in his lifetime, and a posthumous ninth edition in 1783.

Simon Stern teaches law and English at the University of Toronto. His publications include articles and book chapters on various aspects of Anglo-American legal and literary history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including intellectual property, obscenity, search and seizure, and criminal law. His current research examines the history and theory of legal fictions.

• Introduction to Book II


• Editorial Conventions


• Book the Second: Of the Rights of Things


• I: Of Property, in General


• II: Of Real Property; and, First, of Corporeal Hereditaments


• III: Of Incorporeal Hereditaments


• IV: Of the Feodal System


• V: Of the Antient English Tenures


• VI: Of the Modern English Tenures


• VII: Of Freehold Estates, of Inheritance


• VIII: Of Freeholds, not of Inheritance


• IX: Of Estates, less than Freehold


• X: Of Estates upon Condition


• XI: Of Estates in Possession, Remainder, and Reversion


• XII: Of Estates in Severalty, Joint-tenancy, Coparcenary, and Common


• XIII: Of the Title to Things Real, in General


• XIV: Of Title by Descent


• XV: Of Title by Purchase; and, first, by Escheat


• XVI: Of Title by Occupancy


• XVII: Of Title by Prescription


• XVIII: Of Title by Forfeiture


• XIX: Of Title by Alienation


• XX: Of Alienation by Deed


• XXI: Of Alienation by Matter of Record


• XXII: Of Alienation by Special Custom


• XXIII: Of Alienation by Devise


• XXIV: Of Things Personal


• XXV: Of Property in Things Personal


• XXVI: Of Title to Things Personal, by Occupancy


• XXVII: Of Title by Prerogative, and Forfeiture


• XXVIII: Of Title by Custom


• XXIX: Of Title by Succession, Marriage, and Judgment


• XXX: Of Title by Gift, Grant, and Contract


• XXXI: Of Title by Bankruptcy


• XXXII: Of Title by Testament, and Administration