55 ESSAY ON THE APPEARANCE OF I. A. IL’IN’S LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS: TOWARDS THE HISTORY OF THE PUBLICATION By William E. Butler Author LLD, University of London, 1979 Distinguished Professor of Law and International Affairs, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law, University of London, and Member of the Russian International Court of Commercial Arbitration E-mail: webakademik@aol.com Abstract This essay offers a detailed look at Ivan Aleksandrovich Il’in, an illustrious Russian thinker who has gained global recognition as a result of his philosophical works. <...> The present essay explores new information which the author has obtained from archival sources previously unavailable to the general public. <...> The narrative describes, in great detail, events following the publication of monograph “On Legal Consciousness” and the people who played a signifi cant role in Il’in’s life during that time, including W. A. Bary and V. P. Riabushinskii. <...> Moreover, the author recounts the activities of an informal organization known as the “Ivan Aleksandrovich Il’in Society,” which was founded after Il’in’s death in 1954 for the purpose of preserving, publishing, and disseminating Professor I. A. Il’in’s works. <...> The essay concludes by addressing the intricate fate of Il’in’s archive, which was kept in an American university library before its return to Russia in 2006 (in accordance with Il’in’s last will). <...> The Volume 1 September 2014 Issue 1 www.kulawr.ru 56 KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW author gives special consideration to those who have worked to carry on Il’in’s legacy: his wife Natalia, E. F. von Baumgarten, R. M. Siehle, and others. <...> The author also discusses the work of Eugene Klimoff, a noted painter, bookplate designer, and art historian, giving special attention to his creation of Il’in’s bookplate. <...> The Grier translation of Il’in’s monumental dissertation on Hegel was the fi rst appearance of Il’in in English.1 new data, based on previously unavailable archival sources, to our understanding of Il’in and his writings. <...> On the Origins of Il’in’s Monograph on Legal Consciousness From 1916 onwards Il’in’s principal scholarly preoccupation in Russia was <...>