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ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

1920 · réf. 00001051 — London: Martin Secker 1920. 243 1 pages. Original publisher's royal-blue cloth with printed paper spine label. Lacking the rare dust jacket. 19.5 x 13.5 cm. Spine label is chipped with loss of half of the title; spine is sun-darkened; a few light spots on the front cover. Endpapers are a bit tanned; internally clean. Engraved bookplate of Irma L. Harris on the front pastedown. Bookseller's ticket of The Holliday Bookshop New York on the rear pastedown. Good only. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. A series of aphorisms exploring topics in European philosophy and literature by the Russian-Jewish existentialist Lev Shestov 1866-1938. The original Russian edition 1905 bore a title that translates literally as "Apotheosis of Groundlessness." In his foreword Lawrence identifies Shestov's main theme: "`Everything is possible' - this is his really central cry. It is not nihilism. It is only the shaking free of the human psyche from old bonds. The positive central idea is that the human psyche or soul really believes in itself and in nothing else." --p.10. Although Kotelliansky is credited as the sole translator D.H. Lawrence collaborated extensively on the text. "The final translation was effected through a complete revision by Lawrence of Koteliansky's version. Koteliansky's original manuscript was so heavily revised that Lawrence eventually rewrote the entire translation in his own handwriting; this was the manuscript from which Secker printed the present edition." --Roberts "A Bibliography of D.H. Lawrence" A13. The volume includes a brief biographical "Note" with a list of Shestov's books. PROVENANCE: Irma Liebmann Harris 1885-1969 was a member of a prominent Jewish family from Atlanta Georgia and a leading figure in the city's social and cultural life. She was the daughter of Isaac Liebman founder and president of the Atlanta Paper Company 1886–1924. In 1908 she married Arthur Israel Harris 1881–1963 who succeeded Liebman as president of Atlanta Paper 1924–1946 and later served as chairman 1947–1957. The firm pioneered wet-strength packaging vital to the U.S. military during World War II and secured major contracts with Coca-Cola and other beverage companies. Irma Harris was a civic leader who served with the Girl Scouts the Atlanta USO during World War II Travelers Aid the Atlanta Council of Jewish Women and as founder and president of the Peachtree Garden Club. An avid art and book collector she read extensively in French and German. Her bookplate is signed in the plate “K. Merrill." This was likely the work of the American painter and etcher Katherine Merrill 1876–1962. Martin Secker hardcover