lepidoptera

You are currently browsing the archive for the lepidoptera category.

Inscribed Lep Offprints for Sale

June 15, 2019 in inscriptions, lepidoptera | 2 comments

A long-established Santa Barbara, California, dealer, Ralph Sipper, is offering four of Nabokov’s lepidopterological offprints, each inscribed to a fellow lepidopterist, Don A. Stallings.

The offprints were part of a Nabokov lepidopterological archive sold at Pacific Book Auctions for $15,600 on 7 Feb which I described here on 16 Feb.

Sipper has asked me to post information about the offprints for him. He can be contacted through his web site at http://ralphsipperbooks.com/.

Nabokov, Vladimir. THE NEARCTIC FORMS OF LYCAEIDES HUB. Offprint from Psyche, September 1943. 13 pages. This copy is inscribed by Nabokov to a fellow lepidopteral scientist, Don A. Stallings. At this time Nabokov was working in Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology in the classification of butterflies. Offprints such as this are issued specifically for the author’s use in a small number (usually 25 copies). The text documents Nabokov’s masterly interpretations of his scientific findings. Juliar AA7. Fine. (25109) $2,500.00

Nabokov, Vladimir. NOTES ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE GENUS LYCAEIDES. Offprint from Psyche, September 1944. 35 pages. This copy is inscribed by Nabokov to a fellow lepidopterist Don A. Stallings. With two holograph annotations to the text by Nabokov. Offprints such as this are issued specifically for the author’s use in a small number (usually 25 copies). Juliar AA8. Fine. (25110) $3,500.00

Nabokov, Vladimir. NOTES ON NEOTROPICAL PLEBEJINAE. Offprint from Psyche, March 1945. 61 pages. With Nabokov’s printed illustrations of butterfly anatomical features. This copy is inscribed by Nabokov to fellow lepidopterist Don A. Stallings. With two substantive holograph annotations to the text by Nabokov (“Martha has proved to be a third species of Echinargus, beautifully intermediate in genitalia between Isola and Trinidad SP. VN. 1946).”. Juliar AA9. Fine. (25111) $5,000.00

Nabokov, Vladimir. THE NEARCTIC MEMBERS OF THE GENUS LYCAEIDES HUBNER. Offprint from Psyche, February 1949. 62 pages and nine illustrated plates of specimens. This copy is inscribed by Nabokov to a fellow lepidopterist, Don A. Stallings: “With the author’s very best regards at last.” A formidable scientific work issued by Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. Juliar AA14. Fine. (25112) $3,000.00

VN Entomological Archive Sells at PBA Auction

February 16, 2019 in auctions, lepidoptera, letters | No comments

An archive of Nabokov letters, drawings, and off-prints from the 1940s relating to his entomological work and correspondence with Kansas lepidopterist Donald B. Stallings was sold at auction by PBA Galleries to a West coast dealer on 7 February.

The lot was estimated to go for $10,000–$15,000. It sold for $15,600 plus a 20% buyer’s premium. Included were:

  • A 7-page autograph letter signed by Nabokov (in ink) to Kansas lepidopterist Donald B. Stallings, on the letterhead of Harvard College’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, dated March 10, 1944. The letter gives extensive details of Nabokov’s Lycaeides research.
  • A 6-page typed list of Lycaeides specimens sent to Nabokov by Stallings and J.B. Turner. On the last page of this list, Nabokov  has written, in pencil, a 12-line note regarding the list, and signed the note.
  • 4 pages, in pen, of drawings by Nabokov, of Lycaeides morphology, notably genitalia.
  • A 1-page autograph letter signed by Nabokov, undated, on the letterhead of Harvard College’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, to Donald B. Stallings. The letter notes that Stallings has cleared up a research question for Nabokov, and lists issues of the journal PSYCHE in which Nabokov has published his research.
  • Reprints of Nabokov’s Lycaeides research articles in PSYCHE, vol. L, #’s 3-4; vol. LI, #’s 3-4; vol. LII, nos. 1-2; and in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, vol. 101, no. 4. Each of these four reprints is inscribed by Nabokov to Stallings in ink, one with a small drawing of a butterfly. There are Nabokov’s pen corrections in two of the reprints, of which two corrections are extensive. 
  • A manila mailing envelope addressed by Nabokov  to Stallings and with Nabokov’s return address of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. The envelope is stamped and the cancellation is dated March 13, 1944.
  • A 1-page reprint from vol. 14, nos. 1 & 2 of the Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, concerning Donald B. Stallings’ research on Kansas Lepidoptera

Details and photos are at www.pbagalleries.com.

Lolita’s Butterfly Film Project Enters Stage Two

November 18, 2013 in lepidoptera, miscellaneous | No comments

Michael House’s project, Lolita’s Butterfly, a documentary feature film that “explores the scientific work of literary icon Vladimir Nabokov”, has moved into its second stage of fund-raising. You can get details at Indiegogo:

http://igg.me/at/NabokovButterflystagetwo

House, an American composer and filmmaker based in Paris, has posted rushes and sample clips on the site. He raised more than $4500 in stage one through Indiegogo and is now trying to raise €3,000 in stage two.

Here’s the vimeo of some of the material:

http://vimeo.com/79492417

Tags: , ,

A Nabokov Lepping Project

September 20, 2013 in lepidoptera | No comments

Here’s a link to a film-in-work on Nabokov’s entomological pursuits, Lolita’s Butterfly, by Michael House, an American composer and filmmaker based in Paris. It looks promising. But I have one problem with it: I don’t get the title. I hope that becomes clear when I see the completed picture.

Lolita’s Butterfly

Tags: , ,