translation

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Pushkin’ on with a new set of draft pages for the revised and updated bibliography: Eugene Onegin, Nabokov’s monumental four-volume translation with commentary and apparatus of Alexandr Pushkin’s novel in verse. It was first (and as far as Nabokov was concerned, finally, after years searching for a publisher and production delays) published by the Bollingen Foundation in 1964. The publication precipitated a literary controversy between Nabokov and his old friend, Edmund Wilson, in 1965 when Wilson published a disparaging review in The New York Review of Books. Nabokov’s revised version was published by Princeton University Press in 1975. It is A37 in the 1986 bibliography.

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A new set of draft pages for the revised and updated bibliography: Nabokov’s translation, with a foreword, commentary, and other apparatus, of the Old Russian epic, Slovo o polku Igoreve, or, The Song of Igor’s Campaign. The translation was first published in 1960 in wrappers by Vintage Books. It is A34 in the 1986 bibliography.

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Since I first posted my draft pages at the end of June for Dmitri and Vladimir Nabokov’s translation and notes for Lermontov’s novel A Hero of Our Time, published in 1958 by Doubleday Anchor Books, I’ve come across new information. With help from Martin Kaaij and Michael Moorey, I can now distinguish at least five variations of the issues with the Edward Gorey cover, ordered here by price.

Variation a (A31.1 first printing and the only one with the “First Edition” line on the copyright page):

  • Front cover: “ANCHOR A 133   95¢ | IN CANADA $1.10”
  • Back cover: title | author | three-paragraph description | “A DOUBLEDAY ANCHOR BOOK”
  • Spine: “ANCHOR | A 133”
  • Title page: “1958” at foot
  • Copyright page: “First Edition” at foot
  • Publisher’s ads: Four unnumbered pages of ads at the back and then two blank pages

Variation b:

  • Front cover: “ANCHOR A 133   95¢”
  • Back cover: title | author | three-paragraph description | “A DOUBLEDAY ANCHOR BOOK”
  • Spine: “ANCHOR | A 133”
  • Title page: Without “1958” at foot
  • Copyright page: Without “First Edition” at foot but with “Anchor Books edition: 1958”
  • Publisher’s ads: Six pages at the back are numbered AN1 to AN6

Variation c:

  • Front cover: “A 133   $1.25”

I picked this variation up from a cover photo on amazon.com uploaded by a Thomas G. Obrien. I have no further information about it.

Variation d (A31.1 second printing):

  • Front cover: “A 133   $1.45”
  • Back cover: “FICTION” | title | author | three-paragraph description | “A DOUBLEDAY ANCHOR BOOK”
  • Spine: “ANCHOR | A 133”
  • Title page: Without “1958” at foot
  • Copyright page: Without “First Edition” at foot but with “Anchor Books edition: 1958”
  • Publisher’s ads: Six pages at the back numbered 7Aa (with “19 M” below), 7Ba, 10Aa, 10Ba, 13Aa, and 13Ba

Variation e:

  • Front cover: Only “$2.50” across top
  • Back cover: “FICTION” | title | author | three-paragraph description | “A DOUBLEDAY ANCHOR BOOK” | ISBN: 0-385-09344-6 [This ISBN is the same as the current draft’s third printing.]
  • Spine: “ANCHOR”
  • Title page: Without “1958” at foot
  • Copyright page: Without “First Edition” at foot but with “Anchor Books edition: 1958”
  • Publisher’s ads: Six pages at the back numbered 7Ab, 7Bb, 10Ab, 10Bb, 13Ab, and 13Bb

The third printing according to my current draft has different artwork on the cover.

If you have other variations or information about the five I’ve described, I would appreciate hearing from you.

I will post new draft pages as soon as I can sort this out.

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New draft pages: Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov’s translation, with notes and foreword, of the Lermontov novel, A Hero of Our Time. The translation was first published in 1958 in wrappers by Doubleday Anchor Books. It is A31 in the 1986 bibliography.

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New draft pages: Nabokov’s translations of Russian poems, Three Russian Poets: Selections from Pushkin, Lermontov and Tyutchev, published in 1945 by New Directions. It is A23 in the 1986 bibliography.

Notice that the British edition in 1947 had more than just a different title. It also had three more translations of Pushkin and seven of Lermontov than the American edition had.

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A new set of draft pages: Аня в стране чудес [Ania v strane chudes / Alice in wonderland], Nabokov’s translation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. It is A7 in my 1986 bibliography. It was originally published in Berlin in 1923, later published in the U.S. in 1976, and not published in Russia until 1989.

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I’ve added a new set of draft pages: Николка Персик [Nikolka Persik], Nabokov’s 1923 French-to-Russian translation of Romain Rolland’s Colas Breugnon. My 1986 bibliography numbered it A4.

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