Where can I get a copy of your 1986 bibliography, Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography?
It has been out of print for years. I have not seen one for sale for many years. It is very dated—inaccurate and incomplete. If you need information in it badly enough and can’t wait until I release the new version, your recourses are to find one in a good academic library, or email me and I’ll try to answer your question.
Where can I get a copy of your 1991 update to the bibliography?
It too is out of print. But remember that the information in the updates is, like in the book, very out-of-date, incomplete, and, in some cases, inaccurate.
I hear that you are working on a new edition. Is that so?
Yes. I have been working on it for many years using using new software technologies to make all of the data easily accessible electronically. It uses Cyrillic for Russian and the appropriate orthographies for all the languages in which Nabokov’s works have ever appeared, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, and so on. It has high-resolution color photos. It allows searches and displays results in multiple ways. This includes the ability to see a list of all of Nabokov’s works by, for instance, work type or language or title or (if a poem) by first line, or by date composed.
When will it be available?
I don’t really know. I always say “I hope by the end of the year”. But Nabokov’s oeuvre is very deep and rich and varied (more than two-thousand works and counting) and they have appeared in many languages (at least 44) and places (at least 136 cities) around the world. I can’t release the whole thing until I can map the territory a little bit better. Of course I shouldn’t wait until every last diacritical mark is in place before I publish. So my plan is to continue releasing the bibliography in parts in draft form. I hope then to get feedback from you so that I can incorporate their corrections and additions. Maybe even more importantly, I want to understand your bibliographic needs so that I can present the data in more useful ways.
In what form will you issue it?
At first, I plan to issue drafts on the internet so that anyone can access at least some parts of the database and efficiently find the information he or she needs. Eventually I want to publish the whole thing in the old-fashioned way—between covers. How could I not? We are talking here about books, aren’t we? I’m thinking that the book should pull its own little cart behind it in the form of a CD-ROM, with an included search engine of course, snuggled inside.
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I wanted to add something about J&J Fine Books (Goodrich Michigan) and Nabakov (and other) forgeries. I was recently asked by a collector to look at a number of signed books that were purchased from J&J Fine Books in 2016. Every one of these books (10 in total) has proven to be a forgery. Furthermore, the forgeries are the work of a well-known Australian forger currently operating on Ebay as Bookshuttle https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3692&_ssn=bookshuttle. This operator has had numerous identities and has been working as a forger for 20+ years, during which time they have lofted 1000+ forged signatures in books into the market. Lepidopterised Nabakovs are a particular specialty of this forger, so collectors should be aware of them, as they are numerous and some have been “authenticated” by people who really should know better. If you have purchased a book that you think is dubious, get in touch with a forensic document analyst (like me) who is familiar with the works of known forgers. And spread the word about Bookshuttle, who despite being reported numerous times to Ebay, is still trading and peddling their awful forgeries.
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I am researching the bibliographic details of Lolita and have a question about the 1955 Olympia edition. Copies with the price corrected, either by sticker or ink, to 1,200 copies are widely stated by sellers as a second state (or, as in your bibliography, as “issue b”).
My question is: were these price-corrected copies printed later than the copies priced without the correction? Or, were the price-corrected copies simply unsold stock from the initial print run that later Maurice up-charged?
As a collector, I want the earliest printed copy, but it is not clear to me whether or not the price-corrected copies were indeed printed later than the copies without the correction.
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All evidence points to the fact that if the front covers and the copyright pages of the two volumes of the Olympia Press first edition make no mention of printing number, then the two volumes are in fact first printings. Further, if the back cover states a price of 900 francs, it is issue a (not state a). If the price is labeled over or crossed out or rewritten in any manner so as to increase the price to 2400 francs, it is issue b of the first printing.
As you say, Girodias “up-charged” in-stock copies of the first printing to create a new issue. So, again, no mention of printing? It is a first printing.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I greatly appreciate your insight (and the phenomenal resources you offer for free here).
I suppose the term “issue” has caused me confusion. I have read bookseller listings that refer to price-modified Lolita volumes as being a “second issue” or “second state” of the book. For other books, I have seen these terms widely used by sellers as an indication of when a book was printed. For example, the first issue of As I Lay Dying had a textual misalignment on page 11 that was fixed during the process of producing the first printing. The copies with the alignment fixed were printed later than those without the correction, thereby constituting a second issue/state of the first printing (none of these sellers use the term second printing, although maybe they should?). I’ve seen the same convention for Twain firsts, Hemingway firsts, and others, with second issue/state meaning that a book was produced at a slightly later time than the first issue/state.
It seems to me that some sellers are portraying the price-corrected copies of Lolita as being printed after the copies that were not corrected. For example, from Bauman Rare Books: “In fact, the bibliographic point to determine the first issue of the book is the price of “Francs: 900” on the back wrapper. Brisk sales convinced Girondias early on to raise the price to 1200 francs, which he changed with a sticker on the wrapper.”
And from Peter Harrington: “Copies of the first issue appear either without a price change, as here, or with the bookseller’s hand-written correction. The second issue appeared with the publisher’s overprice sticker on the rear covers. In this copy, the price of the second volume is untouched, and the price of the first volume has been lightly inked over in blank, but with no corrected price added, meaning this is likely to be some later marking, and not any sign of second issue.” There are many similar descriptions out there.
These read to me as though the seller is arguing that there are versions of the first printing that are printed earlier than others, and that the distinguishing point is the presence of a price correction.
But, perhaps I am just interpreting the term “issue” incorrectly in this context.
Either way, it does sound to me that you are saying that the price-corrected copies of the first printing were printed at the same time as all the other first printings without the modified price, correct?
Thank you again.
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Back again with a query relating to John Long’s I’ll-fated edition of “Camera Obscura”: Can anyone tell me if it is possible to obtain a facsimile of the jacket for this edition? And the same question for John Long’s “Despair”…
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I don’t know of anyone who has produced dust jacket facsimiles of either of the two John Long titles.
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I own a copy of Kamera Obskura (Sovremennie Zapiski/Parabola 1933 Paris & Berlin) which rarely appears at auction. Juliar A14 specifies one issue of this volume was published. Is there a consensus as to the size of that edition/issue?
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One can only guess at the press run of a Nabokov Russian novel in the early twentieth-century emigration in Europe: I would say 500 copies, tops. But I have no evidence or even analogous information (what were the press runs of his other books in Russian in the emigration?) to back that up. If you come up with anything, please let me know.
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I have a copy of “Podvig”
(“Glory”) published in Berlin in the early 1930s which states a print run
of 1000 copies on the copyright page. This appears to be the only Nabokov volume published in Berlin or Paris in the 20s and 30s mentioning a print run – as far as I can determine. -
Hello,
I wondered whether “Curtain-Raser” was ever re-published as-is including the illustration from the original New Yorker publication. I know it’s Chapter 10 in Speak, Memory, but could you tell me in which way it has been altered – if at all?
On a related note, whixh edition of Speak, Memory would you recommend as ‘definitive’? I think it would have to include Chapter 16, the index, all previous pictures and Nabokov’s corrections, but I couldn’t easily find one that satisfies all these criteria.
On another related note, have you thought about including a ‘recommended edition(s)’ commentary? I, for one, would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you very much for the great work you are doing.
Kind regards!-
There is no illustration connected with “Curtain-Raiser”’s appearance in the 1-Jan-1949 issue of The New Yorker.
I haven’t compared the text of the piece in The New Yorker with any of its book appearances. But of course The New Yorker text should be compared to the text in the first book version of the memoir, Conclusive Evidence.
The most complete edition of Speak, Memory would probably be (in the U.S.) from Everyman’s Library, first released in 1999. No, I’m sorry, but I haven’t considered compiling a list of recommended editions. But I’m happy to try to answer individual questions.
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I have a signed with butterfly Bend Sinister that I’m interested in learning the value of. Where would be a good place to start?
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Go to a reputable dealer in modern literature books. One way to find one is to go to a site like abe.com and search for signed Nabokov copies. Be aware of the factors that go into determining the value of a book such as yours: when it was signed; the quality of the butterfly; the condition of the book and the dust jacket; whether or not it is the first edition from 1947; and its provenance and authenticity (there are many fraudulent signed Nabokovs out there). I’m curious to see a picture of the signature and butterfly.
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Dear Mr. Juliar,
I am Russian-speaker, my English is very poor, I am asking You to excuse me for it! I shall try to express myself in sufficiently comprehandable manner.
I want to ask You about the item A7.3 (issue a), and also to propose to You some corrections.
1) You state: “20-Apr-1982” — could You please point on the source of information?
2) You state: “press run: 905 copies” — could You please point on the source of information?
3) I propose the following corrections in transliteration of the title page:
L. Karrol’ | Ania v strane | chudes | Perevod s angl. V. Nabokova | s risunkami Johna | Tenniela | izdatel’stvo ARDIS | Ann Arbor | 1982May I (as a Russian-speaker) propose to You any help?
Thank you very much!
Eugene
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Eugene –
Thank you for checking my work and pointing out the mistakes.
In response to your questions:
1) The publication date was given to me by the publisher, Ardis.
2) The press run was also given to me by Ardis.
3) Yes, my transliteration has some errors. The title page will be corrected to read: L. KARROL’ | Ania v” stranê chudes” | Perevod s angl. V. Nabokova | s risunkami Dzhona | Tenniellia | izdatel’stvo ARDIS | Ann Arbor | 1982″. I use [“] and [ê] for the no-longer used [ъ] and [ѣ]. I also transliterate names such as Tenniel’s, character by character.
Thanks for the help.
– Michael-
Michael, thank You very much for Your answers! Concerning transliteration — I agree with Your version, after all it is a matter of convention.
If You will need any help in dealing with russian texts — just let me know, I shall try to help.
Yours sincerely, Eugene -
I’m a recent collector of first – signed, where affordable – editions of VN’s work; rather I’ve resumed in retirement a passion which began 55 years ago. I recently acquired a signed (with butterfly) first edition of Nikolai Gogol, inscribed in Cyrillic to Dr Leon Dinkin who evidently performed an appendectomy on Dmitri in June 1944 in New York. Dinkin is mentioned nowhere in any work or index of works on VN that I can find; however, in his preface to ‘Letters to Vera’,
Boyd quotes from one of only three extant letters from Vera to VN: “The trip went well. The heat was intense. Today we were at D’s, they’re doing extra tests, etc., but the operation has been definitely scheduled for Wednesday. I’ll write in more detail on Monday when I see D. again. There’ll be more X-rays in the morning. We’re waiting for a letter. All send their regards.” – Vera
Is ‘D’ Dr Leon Dinkin?-
I have no idea if “D” is Dr. Leon Dinkin or not. If anyone might know, it would be Brian Boyd.
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As for my continued quests, J&J on Ebay is auctioning Monday, Sept 10, two more signed VN novels from Richard Adams estate, this time, with his bookplate on the pastedown: THE REAL LIFE OF SEBASTIAN KNIGHT (ND 1941) and LAUGHTER IN THE DARK (Bobbs-Merrill 1938). One of these is inscribed “With Much Love, Vladimir Nabokov,” which seems a bit of a stretch; one of the signatures is unusual but identical to the one reproduced on Barabtarlo’s INSOMNIAC DREAMS, with little circles over the two “i”s in Vladimir. Both editions are worth having without the signatures; do forged signatures affect the value of the editions?
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I can’t imagine that forged signatures add to the value of an edition. Unless the forger is notorious for his work, like Elmyr de Hory.
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Actually, by asking if “forged signatures affect the value of editions,” I’d meant to ask if a forged signature debased the value of a book, in itself a good collectible edition.
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Yes, I would expect that a forged signature would, as you say, “debase” the value of an otherwise collectible or resalable book in the same way that Aunt Maud’s inscription to her nephew would do so.
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Michael –
Sorry to be so late replying to your two comments, much appreciated. I paid about $800 for the uncorrected bound proof of A Russian Beauty. (The Brooklyn seller did offer a refund if I were uncomfortable with it.) I subsequently bought the copy of Poems which you mention above (in your second reply) from J & J Fine Books for about $400. Since several reputable book dealers have bought up tranches of David E. Johnson’s 22,000 copy collection of signed books by various authors (Johnson’s collection seems not to have been focused on VN’s work – from what I can gather it included perhaps three/four titles by VN), I decided to take a chance on these two. I am, however, in search of more information about the collector, David E. Johnson, and am asking these dealers for specifics.
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One person’s collection of 22,000 signed books? That’s beyond belief. Who are these reputable dealers buying the books?
Good luck in your quests.
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I’ve coaxed a sort of answer from Joel at J&J Fine Books, Goodrich, MI, who writes that he does 6% of his business on Ebay and the rest with private clients and doesn’t see the need for a website. In 2018 in Philadelphia he bought 800 books out of the purported 22,000 collected by the late David E. Johnson whose heirs (nieces and nephews) were secretive about their uncle’s life and demise. They were intent on unloading the entire 22,000 books so that they could get his brownstone on the market. Two reputable dealers I’ve been in touch with who’ve handled signed books from the Johnson cache are Peter Austern of Brooklyn Books (3 signed VN titles) and Shelley & Sons, Asheville, NC (several signed C.S. Lewis titles).
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I recently bought from a Brooklyn bookseller a bound proof of A RUSSIAN BEAUTY with VN’s signature below the title on the full title page. The proof contains a McGraw-Hill press release for April 1973. My bookseller obtained the proof in 2018 from J&J Fine Books, Michigan, along with two additional signed VN titles which were warranted to be from the library of a prodigious if somewhat mysterious collector, David Enderton Johnson. I say ‘mysterious’ because I’ve come across books from his library on offer from several reputable sellers who invariably describe him as a Princeton linguist (another David Johnson, I believe) instead of the biblical scholar which I believe the late David Enderton Johnson was. Are you aware of this collector of Nabokov, C.S. Lewis, as well as lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, among many others?
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Dave –
I’ve never heard of David Enderton Johnson. Nor am I familiar with J&J Fine Books. Your signed VN books could be legitimate. But several caveats:
– J&J Fine Books has no website nor a presence on abe.com. But that’s not totally unusual for small dealers.
– I found a photo of your signed Russian Beauty on abe.com stating it had been sold. The fact that the signature is on the title page and not on a preceding blank page is a little unusual. The signature itself appears clean and real.
– May I ask how much you paid for the signed proof? An unusually low price has been a signal in the past of illegitimacy.
– If you can’t get a solid handle on who this “mysterious” David Enderton Johnson is/was, that means you should tread carefully.
There have been many books with false VN signatures over the last few decades. Any legitimate dealer will accept a return for a full refund if you are not comfortable with your purchase.
Good luck-
Dave –
I see a new signed Nabokov (Poems, 1959) from J&J Fine Books on ebay. It includes what appears to be a name/business card from the mysterious D.E. Johnson, a prepublication notice from the publisher, and an office file card. Starting bid: $585. That in itself means little since you can set the starting bid anywhere. The signature? It looks like so many other VN signatures: could be legitimate, could be fraudulent; I just don’t know.
– Michael
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“Signed” VN books “inscribed” to Martin and Diana
are currently (8/18/17) on sale on Ebay . . . .-
Thanks for pointing them out. Yes, two dealers are offering six allegedly signed/inscribed/lepidopterized Nabokovs on eBay. I’ve written about fraudulent copies inscribed for “Martin and Diana” before. See my postings of 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 27 April 2016. Also, one of the sellers has attached a supposed letter of provenance for the three paperbacks. That letter is as dubious as the sorry lots themselves.
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Hello,
I am finding myself in the following quandary:
A few years ago I read Nabokov’s “Chambre obscure” in French (Grasset, 1983/1986), a translation that apparently dates back to 1934. At the time, incidentally, I wasn’t aware that someone that doesn’t understand Russian is much better off reading his Russian novels in English.
In Nabokov’s own foreword to “Glory” (Penguin Books, 1971/1974), I find “Kamera obscura, 1933 (Laughter in the Dark, 1938)” among his novels translated into English. As it turns out, I have just purchased “Laughter in the Dark” (Penguin Books, 1961/1963), and while I haven’t started reading it yet, it only took me a couple of minutes to realise that the two books have nothing in common whatsoever.
Might you be able to explain this strange discrepancy?
Thank you and best regards,
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A little history: Nabokov’s sixth novel was written in Russian and first published as a book at the end of 1933. Doussia Ergaz’s French translation from the Russian original was published as Chambre obscure in 1934. Winifred Roy’s English translation was published in 1936 as Camera Obscura. And Nabokov’s own English translation was published in 1938 as Laughter in the Dark. Nabokov’s translation has many differences from the 1936 English translation and from its 1933 Russian source, including the names of the characters. All further editions of the novel published in English, whether in America or England, are reprintings of the text of the 1938 translation.
So, read on in your new copy of Laughter in the Dark. You’ll soon see that it is essentially the same book you read in French. Incidentally, Christine Bouvart’s 1991 French translation, Rire dans la nuit, is based on Nabokov’s English translation.-
Thanks a lot!
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Dear Mr. Juliar:
I am interested in exact date of the first publication of VN’s “Ania v Strane chudes” (Gamayun 1923).
Dates of printing listed in your A7.1 file, page 2, are Jan-1923 for variant a, (and 13-May 1923 for var. b.)
I would like to know the source of information regarding these dates, if possible,especially the January date.
Brian Boyd (pers. comm.) says the earliest reference he found is an ad in Dni, 25 March 1923, p. 6, where it’s among “Postupili v prodazhu” (Available for sale now).
Before that, from February 18, p. 10, to March 11, p. 9, Dni has Gamayun ads announcing “Na dnyakh vykhodyat iz pechati” (Expected to be published soon) with Ania in the list.
Thank you very much!
Victor Fet,
Marshall Univrsity,
West Virginia-
I’m happy to try to help you out.
First of all, I can’t comprehend why I gave two separate dates for the publication of the two variants of Ania. I think I was inconsistent when copying the information from my 1986 bibliography (23-May-1923 for both variants) to my current database. I changed the May date to January in one variant but not the other.
In any case, the dates. I quickly scanned my notes and found a mention of the first ad I had come across that said Ania was available, in the 23-May-1923 issue of Rul’, #744, p.14. So, that’s where the May date comes from.
The January date comes from Brian. In the Nabokovian, #10, Spring-1983, p. 34, he says that “Novaya russkaya kniga shows that Ania v strane chudes had appeared by January 1923, not May.”
Of course you can ask why, based on the 1983 information, I half-changed May to January in my current database, but not in my 1986 bibliography. I simply don’t know.
I don’t think that I’ve ever had access to copies or microfilms of Dni.
Is it possible that Brian has amended his 1983 statement for January 1923 publication and now finds Dni more accurate?
In any case, please let me know what you discover so that I can update my database.
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