April 2009

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VN on Facebook

April 30, 2009 in web sites | No comments

With the encouragement of the “Motherlode” blog by Lisa Belkin in The New York Times on 20 Feb 2009 and her link to the website of BJ Fogg, Director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford, at facebookforparents.org, I joined Facebook in early March.

It was odd that joining the social network provoked so much anxiety in me. I’ve been emailing since the 80s and registered my first domain in 1998. But I wasn’t comfortable joining this network originally created for college students. (Facebook became wide open in 2006 and anyone with an email address can join it.) However I faced down my fears and signed up. It has its moments. I “friended” my 24-year-old daughter, a bunch of nephews and nieces, my brother-in-law, and even my wife. At first my daughter found it very weird friending her father. But I think that she has now accepted my tentative step into her world.

Despair, unknown

Despair, unknown

To get to the point: I immediately checked out the VN groups on Facebook. I found 13 with memberships from one (“Nabokov Nerds”) to 1134 (“Nabokov Junkies”), and one in French, and one in Turkish. They have membership lists, discussion boards, postings, photos, and even officers. (I wonder what they do?)

One, “Nabokov Türkiye”, has a photo of what looks like a book cover for Despair in English. Where was it from? The founder of that group wrote to me that he had picked it up from flickr.com. I hopped over there and joined that network. I asked the poster of the photo where the cover came from. A few hours later I noticed he had toggled the photo from public to private. No further word from him. Anyway, here’s what it looks like. Does anyone recognize it?

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O Digital VN, Where Art Thou? (2)

April 28, 2009 in bibliography, publications | No comments

To harken back to my very first posting on 15 March, “O Digital VN, Where Art Thou?”, here is a story from the Associated Press, “’Harry Potter’ Among Those Missing From E-Library”, about “e-books” and why many authors are not available in digital format. If you blink, you may miss the mention, in the seventh paragraph, of Lolita among the missing.

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The Ardis Publications of VN (2)

April 28, 2009 in bibliography, publications, translations | 1 comment

At the request of a reader, I’m adding two other Ardis publications to my list from 14 April. I didn’t include them originally because they are not directly works by VN but translations by others.

Pnin
Пнин. First Russian translation by Genadii Barabtarlo with the participation of Véra Nabokov.
First printing, issue a, 1983. Trade wrappers in Russian.
First printing, issue b, 1983. Trade hardcover in Russian.

Pale Fire
Бледный огонь. First Russian translation by Véra Nabokov.
First printing, issue a, 1983. Trade wrappers in Russian.
First printing, issue b, 1983. Trade hardcover in Russian.

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Shade’s “Manuscript” in Project

April 26, 2009 in bibliography, publications | 2 comments

Gingko Press, the small publisher that issued Jean Holabird’s VN-inspired illustrations on synesthesia in Alphabet in Color (2006), is planning a new VN-related title. It is a so-called “facsimile” edition of John Shade’s note-card manuscript for Pale Fire, with introductory essays by R.S. Gwynn and Brian Boyd. (See NABOKV-L, 23 April.) “The book is currently in the design stage”, a Gingko representative says. He reports no title or tentative publication date yet.

Tooling Along Towards Laura (2)

April 17, 2009 in bibliography, publications | 1 comment

Penguin is going to publish The Original of Laura on 3 November in the UK, according to an item today on the website, theBookseller.com (part of The Bookseller, a British business magazine for the book industry).

Penguin Classics editor Alexis Kirschbaum bought the book, together with continuing rights to the Nabokov backlist, in a six-figure deal through Andrew Wylie [the Nabokov estate’s literary agent]…Penguin Classics will also republish Nabokov’s entire backlist, beginning in November with six of his novels[,]…a collection of Nabokov poems never before published in English (November 2010) and a collection of previously unpublished letters by Nabokov to his wife Vera (November 2011).

It is also being reported today on the blog, The Londoner’s Diary (part of the London Evening Standard). In the U.S., Knopf had already announced that it was going to publish ToOL on 3 November.

I think that the mention of “Nabokov’s poems never before published in English” is a mistake and should be “Nabokov’s prose”. Brian Boyd is the editor and co-translator with Olga Voronina of the book of letters, to be titled, To Véra: Nabokov’s Letters to His Wife.

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Inscribed VN on eBay: The Results

April 16, 2009 in buying/selling books, inscriptions | 2 comments

Mr./Ms. “books4charities-2008” did very well in selling a supposedly VN-inscribed copy of King, Queen, Knave on eBay yesterday. He/she took a $15 book, applied a pen to it, and turned it into a $367 sale (less eBay fees and shipping). Five people placed 14 bids, the last one 32 seconds before the close. Final price: $367. The auction was open for only 24 hours. All other bidding results were kept private at the request of the seller. We don’t know who bought it or any of the other books this seller has listed and sold on eBay since last July.

I did write to the seller, asking for the book’s provenance. I got this short reply:

Yes it was signed in person for the previous owner. This item was purchased at the Santa Monica book fair last year. Thanks for the question.

That wasn’t enough for me. So I wrote again:

Thanks for the further information. But that is not much of a provenance. To work backwards, who was the dealer at the fair and who was the person for whom VN signed the book in May 1971? If you don’t know whom VN signed it for, can you point me to someone who does?

And the conversation ended there, for I didn’t hear from him/her again.

Of course it is possible that he/she really did buy it from a dealer at that book fair and offered it in good faith on eBay. But it smells otherwise.

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About Fake VN Inscriptions and Signatures

April 15, 2009 in buying/selling books, inscriptions | No comments

”VN was well-known for refusing to sign copies of his books for people he didn’t have a personal relationship with. For instance, on 3 October 1958 (see Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters 1940-1977, p. 265), Véra Nabokov wrote to Anita Loos:

My husband asks me to tell you that he was glad to autograph Lolita for you. What comes now is a little embarrassing: he has been autographing Lolita only for personal friends and the very few writers whose work he admires. He has refused his autograph to so many of his own students and to so many of his acquaintances that it would be impossible for him to make an exception in the case of young MacArthur…

That is why there are relatively few VN-inscribed books on the market. And the few that do make it there are very expensive.

Well, where there’s a want and money can be made by responding to it, you can be sure that someone will come along with the goods. And that is just what has been happening on eBay. In the past five years or so I’ve seen up to a dozen frauds, mostly from Australia.

In fact today (15 April), I see that an eBay seller, “books4charities-2008”, in this case out of Los Angeles, has just listed a signed copy of the 1968 McGraw-Hill King, Queen, Knave. It looks very suspicious for many reasons:

  • It is not inscribed to a person. It is just a signature and date (May 1971). VN certainly did that sometimes, but it is unusual, especially later in his life.
  • The signature itself looks gnarled and doesn’t have the flow of legitimate VN signatures I’ve seen.
  • The seller’s other current auction books are all signed—a sign of a serial forger.
  • The starting price is low—$95—and the “Buy It Now” price is much, much too low at $249.99. A legitimate signed VN should be offered on eBay for at least five times that amount.
  • The seller offers no provenance for the book. (Since VN usually addressed his inscriptions to specific individuals, the provenance of his inscribed books is relatively easy to trace.)
  • The seller hasn’t done his homework: He doesn’t list the printing or describe the condition of the book.
  • Though this auction is not marked “private”, each of the previous auctions by this seller was private and I cannot see what he has sold in the past. Sellers of other fakes often try to restrict information.
  • I check eBay every day and I noticed the listing just this morning. Yet the end time is 5:15pm PDT today. A common listing, especially for what would normally be an expensive book, is a week and gives potential buyers time to think about the item and ask questions and get answers before committing themselves. Here, it’s hit-and-run: List it, grab the money, and run.
  • And I don’t believe the philanthropic implication of the seller’s ID.

Conclusion: This smells very strongly of fraudulence; it is a knowingly fake VN-inscribed book.

I would like to hear of others’ experiences with inscribed—real and fraudulent—VN books.

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The Ardis Publications of VN

April 14, 2009 in bibliography | 8 comments

Over the years I’ve received queries from people asking about the VN books issued by Ardis, the small Russian-oriented press founded by Carl and Ellendea Proffer in Ann Arbor, MI in 1971. Ardis began issuing VN books in 1974. (In its semi-incarnation today under Overlook Press, it keeps a modest number of them in print. Actually I see only one, The Song of Igor’s Campaign.  Wikipedia has a piece on the press. Or you can go to its website.)

Ardis published 20 different VN titles, most in Russian, from 1971 to 1992. In my list here, only the last four publications, in the series “Collected Works”, had dust jackets, as noted:

Alice in Wonderland
Аня в стране чудес. New American edition.
First printing, issue a, 1982. Trade wrappers in Russian (905 copies).
First printing, issue b, 1982. Trade hardcover in Russian (100 copies).

Mary
Машенька. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1974. Trade hardcover in Russian (500 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1974. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).
First printing, variant c, 1974. Trade wrappers in Russian (smaller format).

King, Queen, Knave
Король, дама, валет. New American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1979. Trade hardcover in Russian (100 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).

The Defense
Защита Лужина. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1979. Trade hardcover in Russian (100 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian (1200 copies).

The Return of Chorb
Возвращение Чорба. First American edition, (Собрание рассказов и повестй, Том 1).
First printing, variant a, 1976. Trade hardcover in Russian (200 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1976. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).
Second printing, 1983. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).

The Eye
Соглядатай. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1978. Trade hardcover in Russian (150 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1978. Trade wrappers in Russian (1350 copies).

Glory
Подвиг. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1974. Trade hardcover in Russian (500 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1974. Trade wrappers in Russian (2000 copies).
First printing, date unknown. Trade wrappers in Russian (smaller format).

Laughter in the Dark
Камера обскура. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1978. Trade hardcover in Russian (200 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1978. Trade wrappers in Russian.

Despair
Отчаяние. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1978. Trade hardcover in Russian (200 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1978. Trade wrappers in Russian (1300 copies).

Invitation to a Beheading
Приглашение на казнь. First American edition.
First printing, variant a, 1979. Trade hardcover in Russian (100 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian (1200 copies).
Second printing, 1984. Trade wrappers in Russian (700 copies).

The Gift
Дар. First American corrected edition.
First printing, variant a, 1975. Trade hardcover in Russian (1000 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1975. Trade wrappers in Russian.
Second printing, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian.
Third printing, 1983. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).

Speak, Memory
Другие берега. New translated and revised edition.
First printing, variant a, 1978. Trade hardcover in Russian (150 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1978. Trade wrappers in Russian (1350 copies).
Second printing, 1982. Trade wrappers in Russian (700 copies).

Lolita
Лолита. New American translated edition.
First printing, variant a, 1976. Trade hardcover in Russian (100 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1976. Trade wrappers in Russian (100 copies).
Second printing, date unknown. Trade wrappers in Russian.
Third printing, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian (2000 copies).

Spring in Fialta
Весна в Фяльте. New American edition, (Собрание рассказов и повестей, 3).
First printing, variant a, 1978. Trade hardcover in Russian.
First printing, variant b, 1978. Trade wrappers in Russian.
Second printing, 1984. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).

A Hero of Our Time. New American wrappers edition.
First printing, 1988. Trade wrappers in English.
New edition, first printing, 2002. Trade wrappers in English.

The Song of Igor’s Campaign. New American wrappers edition.
First printing, 1988. Trade wrappers in English.
New edition, first printing, 2003. Trade wrappers in English.

Poems (1979)
Стихи. First edition.
First printing, variant a, 1979. Trade hardcover in Russian (200 copies).
First printing, variant b, 1979. Trade wrappers in Russian (1000 copies).

Correspondence with His Sister
Переписка с сестрой. First edition.
First printing, variant a, 1985. Trade wrappers in Russian.
First printing, variant b, 1985. Trade hardcover in Russian.

Collected Works: I (Mary, King, Queen, Knave)
Собрание сочинений: I. First edition.
First printing, 1987. Trade hardcover with dj in Russian.

Collected Works: III (The Eye, 12 stories, The Enchanter)
Собрание сочинений: III. First edition.
First printing, 1992. Trade hardcover with dj in Russian (252 copies).

Collected Works: VI (The Gift)
Собрание сочинений: VI. New American corrected edition.
First printing, issue a, 1989. Trade hardcover with tan dj in Russian.
First printing, issue b, 1989. Trade hardcover with imitation parchment dj in Russian.

Collected Works: X (Lolita)
Собрание сочинений: X. New American translated edition.
First printing, 1987. Trade hardcover with dj in Russian.

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The First Spanish Lolita

April 11, 2009 in translations | No comments

Exactly what is, to use the popular locution, the “first edition” of Lolita in Spanish? Or, more precisely, who issued the first Spanish translation, when was that, and in what form did it appear?

There are three candidates, each published in 1959:

  • An authorized translation by Enrique Tejedor, issued by Victoria Ocampo’s Sur in Buenos Aires.
  • An unauthorized issue by Diana in Montevideo.
  • An unauthorized issue by Azteca in Mexico, D.F. (Mexico City).

Let’s deal with the latter two first. I got those citations originally from Dieter E. Zimmer’s Vladimir Nabokov: Bibliographie des Gesamtwerks (Rowohlt, 1963, revised 1964). Andrew Field’s notoriously inaccurate and oddly organized Nabokov: A Bibliography (McGraw-Hill, 1973) also has them, probably picked up from Zimmer. I can find no other citations nor copies of the books in dealers’ hands or on libraries’ shelves. Until further evidence is turned up, I am here going to make the totally unsupported but logical assumption that the publishers, Diana and Azteca,  did not commission their translations but simply stole Tejedor’s when they saw that a quick and easy peso could be turned by publishing the very hot novel themselves. That is, they pirated the translation.

Lolita, Sur, 1959
Lolita, Sur, 1959

I know nothing about Victoria Ocampo other than what Wikipedia tells me. The key information in the article is that “she was founder (1931) and publisher of the Argentine magazine Sur, the most important literary magazine of its time in Latin America.” Her roster of writers is very impressive (Borges, Sabato, Bioy Caesares, Cortázar, Ortega y Gasset, and so on). Her publishing Lolita, therefore, is not surprising.

Sur issued Lolita three times in wrappers in 1959, each with the same cover. The colophons of the books show they were printed on 24 April, 29 May, and 10 June. I know that the 29 May printing also had a paper-over-boards binding. So, when you see a dealer offering a Spanish “first edition” of Lolita, be sure to first check the colophon. It should read, “la presente edición | se terminó de imprimir | el día 24 de abril de 1959 | en Talleres Gráficos Torfano | castro barros 130, | buenos aires, | argentina”.

Lolita, Sur, 1961

Lolita, Sur, 1961

It was reissued in wrappers (different cover and slightly smaller format) in 1961 as number 18 in the series “Novelas”. That edition has the statement at the bottom of the front flap, “Prohibida su venta en el municipio de Buenos Aires.” Oddly, I have no evidence that Lolita was printed in Spanish between 1961 and its next issue in 1970 by the Mexican press Grijalbo.

So, in summary, this is what we’ve got for the first publications of Lolita in Spanish:

  • Printed 24 April 1959, published by Sur in Buenos Aires, in wrappers, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].
  • Printed 29 May 1959, published by Sur in Buenos Aires, in pictorial boards, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].
  • Printed 29 May 1959, published by Sur in Buenos Aires, in wrappers, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].
  • Printed 10 June 1959, published by Sur in Buenos Aires, in wrappers, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].
  • Issued in 1959, published by Diana in Montevideo, probably pirated, translator unknown but probably Tejedor [not examined].
  • Issued in 1959, published by Azteca in Mexico City, probably pirated, translator unknown but probably Tejedor [not examined].
  • Printed 17 May 1961, published by Sur, in series “Novelas”, number 18, in wrappers, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].
  • Unknown printing date, published by Sur, in series “Novelas”, number 18, unknown binding, possible “enc.” edition, translated by Enrique Tejedor [not examined].
  • Printed 30 March 1970, published by Grijalbo in Barcelona, in wrappers, translated by Enrique Tejedor [examined].

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VN at the NY Book Fair (4)

April 9, 2009 in bibliography, book fairs | No comments

I found two VN-connected but non-VN items at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair and heard a birthday story.

Kelmscott Bookshop (Baltimore, MD) had an attractive copy of Russian Wonder Tales translated by Post Wheeler, Secretary of the American Embassy in St. Petersburg for $75. It was published in London by Adam and Charles Black in 1912 with a dozen illustrations taken from the work of the very well-known Ivan Bilibin. (Harvard University Library has an American-issued copy (The Century Co., New York, 1912), rebound without the pictorial boards. Google Book Search has it on line.) I wonder if there is a VN connection here, as slight as it might be. Did the Nabokov family know Wheeler, Bilibin, this book?

Pola Negri, 1925

Pola Negri, 1925

Peter Harrington (London) had an outstanding copy of one of the two fragile little pamphlets on Hollywood published in the 1920s in Russian by VN’s fellow St. Petersburgian, Alisa Rozenbaum. That is, Ayn Rand. Пола Негри [Pola Negri] carries no author credit, is 16 pages, and measures 15 x 11 cm. This copy is the first of the two printings and in pink wrappers. Price, a not so fragile £6750/$10,125. How far those two such different writers came in their adopted country.

John Rutter of Ars Libri (Boston, MA), a specialist in art books and a dealer who knows his VN stuff, told me a story about his 17-year old daughter. Her birthday was coming up soon and John didn’t know what present to get her. Finally, he broke down and asked her directly what she wanted. She considered the question for a moment. Then she turned to her father: “I know how you feel about your books. So, could you get me my own copy of The Annotated Lolita so that I can mark it up?”

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