A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations

This classic treatise by one of the greatest commentators on the Constitution examines the construction of state constitutions and the enactment of laws. Probably the best- known legal treatise of its time, it went through six editions by 1890. Its treatment of such subjects as the protection of property by the "due process" clause of state constitutions and the protection of individual rights from arbitrary regulations dominated American constitutional thinking for generations. Reprint of the first edition. ". . . the real source of his [Cooley's] fame. This book originated from the need of introducing a course on Constitutional Law in the school. . . . The text was developed as a basis for lectures. . . . His discussion attained immediate fame and his views and suggestions practically dominated American Constitutional Law. . . . Like Blackstone, Pomeroy and many other legal works, the influence of Constitutional Limitations rests partly upon literary qualities, upon clarity and grace of unaffected statement." --James G. Rogers, American Bar Leaders 70. "The most influential work ever published on American Constitutional law." --Edward S. Corwin, Constitutional Revolution 87. Thomas McIntyre Cooley [1824-1898] was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to serve on the Interstate Commerce Commission. He was a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and dean of the University of Michigan Law School. First issued in 1870, his edition of Blackstone, popularly known as "Cooley's Blackstone," was the standard American edition of the late nineteenth century. Some of his other influential publications are A Treatise on the Law of Taxation (1876) and A Treatise on the Law of Torts or the Wrongs Which Arise Independently of Contract (1878). Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, founded in 1972, was named in his honor. Read more