Austin introduced theories of analytical jurisprudence and positive law in this landmark book, which also became the founding text of legal positivism. This reissue of the only edition published during his lifetime, long unavailable, will be of great interest to researchers, historians, libraries and scholars of jurisprudence. John Austin [1790-1859] is best known for developing the theory of legal positivism. After serving in the military he read law and was called to the bar in 1818. He abandoned his practice when he was appointed to the first chair of Jurisprudence at the University of London in 1826, a post he held until 1835. His work was greatly influenced by Jeremy Bentham, a close friend. Austin was the dominant English legal theorist for over a century.