Gliding along to the next set of draft pages for the revised and updated bibliography: Отчаяние [Otchaianie / Despair] was Nabokov’s seventh novel in Russian. He wrote it in 1932 but it wasn’t published as a book until 1936 by Petropolis in Berlin. It had been serialized in Современные записки [Sovremennye zapiski / Contemporary annals], in Feb–Oct 1934 (issues 44–46). Nabokov translated it into English twice, first for the John Long imprint of Hutchinson in London in 1937 and then for Putnam’s in 1966 in New York. It is A15 in the 1986 bibliography.
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Hey there, I’m just reading through your notes on the first translated edition (Putnam) of Despair. I’m confused by two seemingly contradictory statements about the title on the front flap of the dust jacket (sometimes pink and sometimes blank – variants a & b):
At the beginning it says “First printing, variant a, 16-May-1966” – which implies that variant a (pink title on flap) is the true first printing.
Near the end it says “There is no priority between the variants. Review copies sent out by the publisher come in both variants.” – this implies that both variants are equal in terms of being considered the true first printing.
Can you clarify please?
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I’m afraid I don’t understand your confusion. My descriptions state that the first printing had two variant (i.e., no priority in printing or distribution) dust jackets: pink title on flap and black (not blank) title on flap. I don’t see how stating “First printing, variant a, 16-May-1966” implies priority for the pink title. I had to select one of the variants and describe it first. I hope that this helps clarify things for you.
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