Bibliography is something like taxonomy, the work Nabokov did in examining the genitalia of his beloved butterflies: Minute differences are sometimes significant. But sometimes they aren’t.

What am I to make of the copyright page redaction (I love that word) in the first British edition (both first and second printings) of Ada? The book exists in two variants: copyright notice redacted and copyright notice not redacted. The consistency of the redactions in copies I’ve examined makes me conclude that the crossing-out was part of the manufacturing process, done in the printing plant or in the warehouse. And then these books, most redacted, some unredacted, were released indiscriminately to the marketplace.

What does the harried bibliographer conclude? He turns to Carter and reads about “point maniacs” and “issue-mongers”. He examines the evidence. He ponders. And he decides: Here is a bibliographic difference with a bibliographic significance. So I will edit A40.4 and distinguish multiple states of the first printing (and, if evidence is presented, of the second printing). State a will be books without the redacted copyright notice, state b with.

Why was the copyright notice redacted in the first place? I have no idea. Besides, it makes no sense. It is no different than the notices in other Nabokov British editions that were first published by McGraw-Hill.