250 Years of Blackstone’s Commentaries. An Exhibition
curated by Wilfrid Prest and Michael Widener
William S. Hein & Co., Inc., Buffalo, N. Y., 2015, viii. 52 pp.: colored illustrations
Exhibition catalog to accompany Yale Law Library’s traveling Blackstone exhibit: Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School, March-May 2015; Middle Temple Library, London, September-November 2015; Sir John Salmond Law Library, University of Adelaide, December 2015-February 2016.
Wilfrid Prest, University of Adelaide
Michael Widener, Yale Law Library
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A regreso de Brasil hallé entre mi correspondencia académica el presente de este catálogo, enviado por mi admirado amigo Mike Widener, con quien tengo adeudo de sabiduría en los intercambios que he ido acumulando a lo largo de los últimos años. Nuestra amistad remonta a fechas en que Mike era todavía archivero de la Tarlton Law Library, School of Law (University of Texas.Austin), y ha continuado en su activa labor comoRare Book Librarian de la Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.
Este obsequio resulta de especial interés para mi, dándome a conocer hermosas ediciones de una obra que no frecuentan las Universidades españolas, y a la que personalmente sólo había accedido a través del ‘The Comic Blackstone’ en la ed. [Punch Office, London, 1846] de Gilbert Abbott A’Beckett (1811-1856) ilustrada por George Cruikshank (1791-1878).
Visitar la exposición londinense es tentador. A mayor razón trascender más allá de nuestro continente hasta llegar a la Australia meridional. Pero ignoro si el próximo noviembre me permitirá siquiera lo primero. No, por el contrario, que debería esforzarme en buscar el modo de coincidir con Mike y Emma Widener durante esta visita a Europa.
Gracias Mike por tu regalo. Ya está en mi biblioteca. A tu amistad reservo un lugar de privilegio entre mis afectos.
J.C.G.
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Yale (March-May 2015). Yale Law School. Blackstone’s Commentaries: A Work of Art?”. http://library.law.yale.edu/news/exhibit-talk-blackstones-commentaries-work-art
Yale (June 2015), “250 Years of Blackstone’s Commentaries.”. Rare Book Exhibition Gallery. Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. http://library.law.yale.edu/news/new-exhibit-250-years-blackstones-commentaries
London (September-Novenber 2015). The library of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. http://library.law.yale.edu/news/our-blackstone-exhibit-opens-London
University of Adelaide (December 2015-February 2016) : http://library.law.yale.edu/news/new-exhibit-250-years-blackstones-commentaries
El catálogo es accesible en http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=britlaw
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William Blackstone (1723-1780)
Image: Sir William Blackstone, S. Arlent Edwards, 1896. Courtesy of Historical & Special Collections, Harvard Law School Library
Sir William Blackstone (July 10, 1723 – February 14, 1780)
“It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.”
Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) was considered the preeminent English scholar and the most authoritative speaker on common law. This quote is from his Commentaries on the Laws of England, which was highly influential in the development of U.S. law. It is comprised of four “books” divided into rights of persons, the rights of things, of private wrongs, and of public wrongs. Early American lawyers looked to the Commentaries as an authoritative source and it was used as a textbook in legal education in both England and America. It is still cited as a source of authority on the history of English law. The Anglo-American concept of “reasonable doubt” is reflected in this quote, which also known as “Blackstone’s ratio”. It is seen quoted in legal opinions and scholarship to this day. The quote acknowledges the tradeoff in a criminal justice system where one accepts a certain number of false acquittals compared to false convictions. Similar principles were suggested by predecessors such as Justice Hale, Fortescue and Voltaire with varying “ratios”.
Fuente: http://library.law.harvard.edu/justicequotes/explore-the-room/south-4/
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Reciente bibliografía puede consultarse a través del Blog Law and Humanities
http://lawlit.blogspot.com.es/search/label/William%20Blackstone
