BLACKSTONE, William, Sir (1723-1780). Autograph letter signed ("Will Blackstone"), to George Bingham, 17 November 1748.

2pp. on bifolium, 4to (229 x 191 mm), old folds, remnants of original wax seal, framed and matted with contemporary engraving of William Blackstone, unexamined out of frame, overall 24 3/4 x 14 3/4 in.

In this letter, Blackstone writes to the Reverend George Bingham, recently instituted to the rectory of Pimperne in Dorsetshire, of the favorable outcome of a case. In part: "As I promised to let you...know how affairs went at Westminster with regard to the Vice Chancellor, it is with great satisfaction I can fulfill that promise by informing you, that after all big words and blusterings of our great men, after all the abuse that has been so plentifully scattered both on the university and its Magistrate, and (what is worst circumstance of all) after a heavy expense with which an innocent man has been saddled, the prosecution is at last dropt..."

William Blackstone, an English jurist and Tory politician best known for writing Commentaries on the Laws of England, first published in four volumes by the Clarendon Press at Oxford between 1765 and 1769. At the time of the present letter's writing, he had recently been appointed accountant, treasurer, and Bursar at All Souls College at Oxford. The letter's recipient, George Bingham, had attended All Souls with Blackstone and Dr. Benjamin Buckler. During the Jacobite Rebellion, Bingham served as proctor at All Souls, and following the death of the Reverend Christopher Pitt in April 1748, Bingham was installed as his replacement at the rectory of Pimperne in Dorsetshire. The relationship between the Blackstone and Bingham remained strong following the latter's departure from All Souls, with Blackstone closing his letter by saying, "Let me hear from you at your leisure, for I hope of distance to which you are removed will not make you forgetful of your old friends, and in particular not of yours sincerely, William Blackstone."