Many of these resources are available online and in print. One online resource may be suggested, but there are usually others that can be easily found using any standard search engine. 

Blackstone, William, Sir . Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1765-1769. (Note: This version is available online at the Avalon Project of Yale Law School. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/blackstone.asp) 

For the very serious student who wishes to understand the fundamentals of English law that provided much of the legal framework and background that the framers of the Constitution would have been familiar with. 

Farrand, Max , ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911. 3 vols. (Note: This version is available at the Online Library of Liberty.http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php?title=1785&Itemid=27) 

          Once again, this is a resource for the serious student because of its size; but anyone can enjoy perusing excerpts. Includes the notes of James Madison which have also been published separately. A later “Supplement” to these records is also available from Yale University Press. 

Hamilton, Alexander et al. The Federalist. Benjamin Fletcher Wright, ed. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2004. 

(Note: Another version is available at the Online Library of Liberty.  

http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=788&Itemid=27) 

          This is a standard volume for students of the Constitution. One or more versions are available at most bookstores. Contains the arguments of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay as they wrote (under the collective pseudonym of Publius) in favor of ratifying the new Constitution. 

Hirsch, E.D. Validity in Interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967. 

          A standard work on the principles of literary interpretation. 

Ketcham, Ralph , ed. The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates. New York: New American Library - Signet Classics, 2003. (Note: Similar information is available online at http://www.constitution.org/afp/afp.htm) 

          This collection is reader friendly and includes many of the best portions of the larger compilations by Farrand and Storing. 

Meese III, Edwin , ed. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing Company, 2005. 

          This is an almost line-by-line commentary on the Constitution from a number of contributors who generally observe the originalist perspective. Relevant court cases are also frequently cited and discussed.  

Storing, Herbert J. The Complete Anti-Federalist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. 

          Several American patriots gave speeches and wrote articles opposing the approval of the new Constitution, believing that the Articles of Confederation were sufficient for an alliance of independent States. These writers generally wrote under pseudonyms, but included Patrick Henry and other well-known figures of the Revolution. Storing also published an excerpted version in 1985 called simply, The Anti-Federalist.  

Story, Joseph . Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company, 1833. (Note: This version is available online at The Constitution Society. www.constitution.org/js/js_000.htm)  

Webster, Noah . American Dictionary of the English Language 1828. Reprinted Chesapeake Virginia: FACE Publishing, 1968. (Note: Online word searches available at: http://1828.mshaffer.com/) 

          This dictionary was published less than 40 years after the drafting of the Constitution and captures the meaning of the words as they were used at the time more closely than later dictionaries.