William Blackstone

Horses

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Thirtieth. Of Title by Gift, Grant and Contract This chapter has a hard time separating fact from fiction.  It’s sort of a...

Blackstone Sparks Joy

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Twenty-Eighth, Of Title by Custom. The quirky doctrines in this chapter muddle the line between animate and inanimate beings. Reading about old legal...

Of Rights and Reasons

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter 27. Of Title by Prerogative and Forfeiture This chapter is about hunting. Actually, it’s about not hunting, because the king outlawed it in order to...

Everything Changes

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh  Book the Second, Chapter the Twenty-Fifth. Of Property in Things Personal. The property in this chapter is always escaping. The objects of our desire are captured and subdued...

A Moveable Feast

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second.  Chapter the twenty-fourth.  Of Things Personal. Property is comedy in the Commentaries: it always ends well.  But along the way there are problems and...