William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, judge, and Tory politician. He served as the first Vinerian Professor of Common Law at the University of Oxford from 1758 until 1766. His series of lectures on English law, the first of their kind in any university, have endured since their publication as a definitive reference on the principles of Common Law. The first American edition was produced in 1772; prior to this, over 1,000 copies had already been sold in the Thirteen Colonies, and it was greatly influential among the Framers of the Constitution. Event today, Blackstone's Commentaries are cited in U.S. Supreme Court decisions 10-12 times a year. His plan for a dedicated School of Law, included in the Commentaries upon its rejection by Oxford, provided the foundation of the modern system of American law schools. A 9-foot statue of Blackstone stands on Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.