Subject
Fw: Queries: Selected Letters of VN
From
Date
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EDITOR's NOTE. I answer questions 2&5 below. Perhaps some helpful soul(s)
could take on one or more others.
----- Original Message -----
From: "akiyoshi miyake" <aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (52
lines) ------------------
> Nabokovians:
>
> I am rereading Selected Letters of VN 1940-1977.I will be grateful if
> someone reply, personally or on the list, to my questions below:
>
> 1)p.471:In the case of Nakhamkes, a well-known figure of Fun and an
> impudent boor,....
> I do not know who Nakhamkes is, Judging from the context, he seems a Jew
> or a Jewish person, but I could not find his name in any biological
> dictionaries. Was he an acquaintance of VN's father?
>
> 2)p.483, footnote 6:"Alexander Turgenev, Ambassador of Russian Culture
> in _Partibus Infidelium_.
>
> I can't read Latin, I will be grateful if someone kindly put the
> "Partibus Infidelium" into English.
-----------------------------------
EDITOR: The Latin means "In Foreign lands"
>
> 3)p.501: _The Author of Trixie_ is by Caine (lesser known Caine) and is
> about an archbishop (which would have provided Mr Olcott with yet
> another piece for mythical chess set) who secretly writes a frivolous
> novel...
>
> Who is "the lesser known Caine"? I found the book itself in my Univ.
library,
> but there is no author's name on the book. And is Mr Olcott Henry Steel
> Olcott(1832-1907) a theosophist? Indeed, I can't understand what VN is
> saying in the parenthesized phrase.
>
> 4)p.552: And my butterfly net remains hanging on the branch of a fir at
> 1900 metres like Ovid's lyre.
>
> I will appreciate you if you tell me the details of the episode of
> "Ovid's lyre". I am ashamed of my being a man of no culture. Anyway, the
> above is a beautiful image.
>
> 5)p.558:the other lecturer at Dartmouth was Stefansson of the Wolves.
>
> Would you tell me please what the "of the Wolves" means.
EDITOR's REPLY. Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian, born of Icelandic
parents, and later taught at Dartmouth. He spent some years living among
Eskimos and wrote both ethnological studies and many popular books on them.
While none of the titles mention "wolves" I imagine his _My Life with the
Eskimos_ includes mention. Oddly, one of his titles is _Ultima Thule_.
> Sorry that these queries are very trivial ones, but I would like some
> one to solve them.
>
> Thank you very much.
> Cordially,
>
> Aki
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> akiyoshi miyake
> $B&N (B akimyk@mx3.ttcn.ne.jp
> $B"# (BP aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp
> ~ $B!1 (B~ http://www.bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp/~aki-myk/
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
could take on one or more others.
----- Original Message -----
From: "akiyoshi miyake" <aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (52
lines) ------------------
> Nabokovians:
>
> I am rereading Selected Letters of VN 1940-1977.I will be grateful if
> someone reply, personally or on the list, to my questions below:
>
> 1)p.471:In the case of Nakhamkes, a well-known figure of Fun and an
> impudent boor,....
> I do not know who Nakhamkes is, Judging from the context, he seems a Jew
> or a Jewish person, but I could not find his name in any biological
> dictionaries. Was he an acquaintance of VN's father?
>
> 2)p.483, footnote 6:"Alexander Turgenev, Ambassador of Russian Culture
> in _Partibus Infidelium_.
>
> I can't read Latin, I will be grateful if someone kindly put the
> "Partibus Infidelium" into English.
-----------------------------------
EDITOR: The Latin means "In Foreign lands"
>
> 3)p.501: _The Author of Trixie_ is by Caine (lesser known Caine) and is
> about an archbishop (which would have provided Mr Olcott with yet
> another piece for mythical chess set) who secretly writes a frivolous
> novel...
>
> Who is "the lesser known Caine"? I found the book itself in my Univ.
library,
> but there is no author's name on the book. And is Mr Olcott Henry Steel
> Olcott(1832-1907) a theosophist? Indeed, I can't understand what VN is
> saying in the parenthesized phrase.
>
> 4)p.552: And my butterfly net remains hanging on the branch of a fir at
> 1900 metres like Ovid's lyre.
>
> I will appreciate you if you tell me the details of the episode of
> "Ovid's lyre". I am ashamed of my being a man of no culture. Anyway, the
> above is a beautiful image.
>
> 5)p.558:the other lecturer at Dartmouth was Stefansson of the Wolves.
>
> Would you tell me please what the "of the Wolves" means.
EDITOR's REPLY. Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian, born of Icelandic
parents, and later taught at Dartmouth. He spent some years living among
Eskimos and wrote both ethnological studies and many popular books on them.
While none of the titles mention "wolves" I imagine his _My Life with the
Eskimos_ includes mention. Oddly, one of his titles is _Ultima Thule_.
> Sorry that these queries are very trivial ones, but I would like some
> one to solve them.
>
> Thank you very much.
> Cordially,
>
> Aki
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> akiyoshi miyake
> $B&N (B akimyk@mx3.ttcn.ne.jp
> $B"# (BP aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp
> ~ $B!1 (B~ http://www.bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp/~aki-myk/
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^