55 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s The American Blackstone: First Edition Of Kent’s Landmark Commentaries On American Law 70. KENT, James. Commentaries on American Law. New York, 1826-30. Four volumes. Octavo, modern full tan calf. $7800. First edition of one of the most important legal treatises in American history, handsomely bound. “Superior to any previous treatise on this subject, and a landmark in the history of international law” (Chamberlain). “The foremost American institutional legal treatise” (DAB). Kent’s goal was “to transplant the English common law to America… [His] reliance on precedents had the two-prong effect of helping to maintain the primacy of judge-made law in contrast to codification by legislatures, while providing the legal profession with the degree and kind of certainty it craved” (ANB). NYU, 249. HLC I:1088. Occasional penciled annotations. Mild foxing to text, binding fine and attractive. An excellent copy.
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