Talk:William Blackstone

Untitled
Not sure if anyone cares, but I'm related to William Blackstone, and share his surname. Unfortunately I don't (presently) know enough to contribute much useful to this article; you'd probably get more information on the subject out of a lawyer. One day, though, I may get the chance to learn more about him.

I added the trivial tidbit about Blackstone being mentioned in literature. I remember being surprised to see the name in Moby Dick; I've seen him mentioned elsewhere, too. Not sure this is really appropriate for an encyclopedia article; if someone wants to pull it out, I won't be offended. Jdavidb 18:42, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I don't mind it being there, and it certain helps to underscore the echoing effects of Blackstone, both during his life and long after. If you could flesh out exactly the reference made, that would be even more interesting, although I don't know how well that would fit into the main article. If it doesn't fit, put it here at least. :) Ari 05:08, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

He's also mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird (in fact, that's why I came to this article; he was mentioned and I didn't know who he was) --Eel 07:55, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Jdavidb

Your not the only relation of his on Wiki - I'm his 1st Cousin - 7 times removed. --BMR789 09:43, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

In my pre-law and US Gov classes, Blackstone's Ratio was name we gave for the "Better ten criminals go free than one innocent man be convicted." I've updated the page to reflect that. SHARPER 13:27, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Blackstone's anti-Catholicism
I removed this phrase:


 * . . . a charge very similar to that repeatedly leveled at Jews throughout history.

The analogy seems inappropriate. To my knowledge, the Jews have never had a Pope or a comparable leader; and at least in Blackstone's day, the Jews did not have a foreign government either. Smerdis of Tlön 13:41, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Assessment
With better sourceing and formatting this could easily make it to GA. Aboutmovies 21:17, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 04:36, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation
Please provide the pronunciation in IPA. Ad hoc pronunciations are deprecated in Wikipedia. "Blexstun" is highly ambiguous (for example, it does not indicate which syllable is pronounced, suggests a double /s/ and suggests the final syllable is pronounced like the word "stun"). At a guess, /ˈblɛkstən/ is the intended pronunciation, but I have no idea whether this is the case. &mdash; 85.211.2.228 (talk) 17:40, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

How can we possibly verify contemporary pronunciation of Blackstone's name, especially when no sources are cited? ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wprest01 (talk • contribs) 11:03, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

This sentence is WILDLY wrong
"These were massively successful, earning him a total of £56,000 in 2013 terms"??? In 2013 terms, that is less than $100,000 U.S., which some modern lawyers make in a month. No sourcing. I don't have the time to tackle it at present, but this is just ridiculous. Did he get that much from his lecture series, and wasn't that in the multi-millions today? Bouldergeist (talk) 11:25, 5 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I'm confused; the statement is quite clearly sourced. By '2013 terms' it means 'converting the money from the 18th century to 2013 currencies, it comes to around £56,000'. You don't seem to be factoring in that the number and proportion of literate people (much less literate people with an interest in law) was far less in the 18th century than it would be today; yes, today he might have made many millions of pounds - from selling many, many more copies. If you've got a suggestion for how to rephrase the sentences, by all means, make it. In the meantime, please try not to be so hyperbolic; it needs rewriting, potentially, but currently conversions are neither "ridiculous" nor "WILDLY wrong". Ironholds (talk) 20:01, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Untitled
A dreadful article.

The article maintains that Sir William Blackstone was highly influential among the Founding Fathers - he was, but in the exact opposite way from the way the article implies. Blackstone's work was held to sum up what the Founding Fathers were AGAINST - the idea that Parliament could anything it likes (an idea that the article briefly mentions, but does not explore). This was seen as a revolt against the principles of Chief Justice Sir Edward Cook, Dr Bonham's case, and against the Old Whig Chief Justice Sir John Holt of the British "Glorious Revolution" period. One can not believe in the principles of the Bill of Rights, American or British, and believe in "Parliamentary Sovereignty", i.e. that Parliament can do anything it likes. Does the "legislature" have the right to pass "gun control" regulations or statutes suppressing freedom of speech? The tradition of the Bill of Rights says "no", the tradition of Sir William Blackstone says "yes" - his principle, that Parliament can do anything it wants, is the exact principle that the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers and so on, was AGAINST. The failure to explain this makes the article worse than useless for people seeking basic understanding.176.252.211.128 (talk) 14:27, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your review! If you think the founders were influenced in a negative way by Blackstone's works, do provide some sources saying so. Note that the article doesn't say they agreed, just that his commentaries were (for a long time, including the period in which the mentioned individuals were learning the law) one of the primary sources of legal education - along, yes, with Edward Coke's "Reports" (his article covers that nicely). Ironholds (talk) 20:54, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 10:36, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on William Blackstone. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20130414142250/http://www.downtownblackstone.org/visit-blackstone-virginia.html to http://www.downtownblackstone.org/visit-blackstone-virginia.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 14:42, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

LL.D
There's information in the picture on the right (see the caption at the top) that Blackstone was awarded LL.D degree. Ratte (talk) 21:04, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Comment on Blackstone
Interesting comment on Blackstone himself, seen in changes to his famous work, as worked upon by his contemporaries. Not complimentary, that. Shenme (talk) 02:09, 7 May 2020 (UTC)