Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010809, Wed, 15 Dec 2004 19:51:49 -0800

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Fwd: Charles Xavier(s) coincidence(s)
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----- Forwarded message from chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 12:41:48 -0800
From: Carolyn <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
Dear Charles Nichols,

Your question induced me to google "charles xavier" - - and it turned out
that there were too many hits to follow, even after I subtracted "x-men" and
scifi.

But it seems that the name belongs to someone who might have been of
interest to Nabokov, Charles Xavier Thomas (1785 - 1870). On this web
page:http://www.thocp.net/hardware/aritmometer.htm you can see his
calculating machine, which predates the Ada Lovelace - Burbage machine,
which VN does refer to in Ada. On the other hand, I don't recall anything in
Pale Fire on this subject, so this is probably coincidental.

As to the X-men, though, there I can't help you.

Carolyn

p.s. the name Xavier on its own seems to be of Arabic origin meaning
splendid or bright.

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