A Summary of the Constitutional Law of England, Being an Abridgement

1790. Dublin: W. Sleater, And W. Colles, 1790.. Dublin: W. Sleater, And W. Colles, 1790. The First Abridgement of the Commentaries, A Copy with an Interesting Maryland Provenance Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. Trusler, John [1735-1820], Editor. A Summary of the Constitutional Law of England, Being an Abridgement of Blackstone's Commentaries. Dublin: W. Sleater, No. 28, And W. Colles, No. 17, Dame-Street, 1790. [iv], 228, [8]. 12mo. (7" x 4-1/2"; 17.8 x 11.4 cm). Contemporary calf, lettering piece and gilt fillets to spine, joints reinforced. Light rubbing and scuffing to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities with wear to spine ends and corners, front hinge starting, crack in text block between second and third front endleaves. Light browning to text, (illegible) owner signature dated 1860 to front free endpaper, another ("Z.C. Lee/ Winchester," dated 1828) to following endleaf. $1,250. * Only Dublin edition, a reprint of the London edition, 1788. According to Laeuchli, "this appears to be the earliest abridgment of Blackstone's Commentaries." It was the work of the Rev. John Trusler, a remarkably prolific author of popular books on a variety of subjects ranging from etiquette and gardening to finance and law. His most famous works are The Way to be Rich and Respectable (1780) and Hogarth Moralized (1768). His legal writings include Useful and Legal Information to Purchasers & Possessors of Estates, a treatise on real property, and the present work. According to the book's Advertisement, it offers "every thing in Blackstone necessary for the general reader [with] nothing omitted but what is peculiarly adapted to the profession of a Lawyer" (iii). The book went through two more editions in 1790 and 1796. This copy belonged to Zaccheus Collins Lee [1805-1859], a distinguished Maryland lawyer and judge. He studied under influential Virginia jurist Henry St. George Tucker at Winchester Law School, where he apparently found this text useful. All editions are scarce. OCLC locates 4 copies of the Dublin edition in North American law libraries (Harvard, Library of Congress, Trial Court Library of Worcester, MA, Yale). Not in Eller. Laeuchli, A Bibliographical Catalog of William Blackstone 123.