Subject
Nabokov Exhibition at the Widener Library, Harvard (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Ryan Asmussen (rra@bu.edu)
Thursday, May 27th, I had the privilege of being allowed access into the
Widener Library at Harvard to view the VN exhibition, "Vladimir Nabokov: An
Exhibition Marking the Centenary of his Birth", May 4 - June 2, 1999, on
display in the Rotunda. Co-Curator and Houghton Library Rare Book
Cataloger Golda Steinberg was good enough to provide me with a personal
tour and I'd like to thank her, here, once more, for her much appreciated
generosity of time and effort. I asked at the outset if she would mind if
I wrote up an overview for the NABOKV-L list, since I knew that many of you
would at least want to be able to read about, if unable to see in person,
the great work she and Co-Curator John Rutter of Ars Libri, Ltd. have
wrought, and she graciously agreed. The following pages describe in detail
exactly what was on display there and is interspersed with excerpts from
the information cards, text from the encased Nabokov exhibits, as well as
with my own observations. I have to thank John Rutter, as well, for his
knowledgable guidance and right-minded editing. It was clear to me, after
almost a full day among the glass cases, that a strong spirit of genuine
Nabokovian enthusiasm hovered over the proceedings and, in my subsequent
communications with Golda and John in preparation for this overview, I have
indeed been confirmed in my belief that this exhibition was for them an
excellent way in which to honor the man and the writer whom we, and the
world, so much admire.
When one entered the Rotunda, at the top of the main staircase past the
guarded entry, four waist-high glass cases skirted the perimeter, set off
by one large case, approximately six feet or more, positioned in the middle
of the floor. What follows is a description of the contents of each
container, all very tastefully and constructively arranged by the curators.
>From the programme: "All exhibited material from the Houghton and Widener
Libraries, except the lepidopteral specimens (Museum of Comparative
Zoology) and items marked: * (Mrs. Harry Levin), + (Professor Richard
Pipes), ++ (John and Kathleen Rutter)."
After the numbered entries: "RRA" will signify my remarks, while quotations
will denote material either from the information cards or from the exhibits
themselves. "JR" will signify additional remarks by John Rutter. Any
typographical errors or other confusions are mine alone.
CASE 1: EARLY POETRY AND TRANSLATIONS
(1) Stikhi [Poems]. Petrograd: Khudozh. graficheskoe zavedenie Union, 1916.
RRA: A slim, fragile volume, with an encroaching brown at the edges and
the name of the author in Cyrillic: V.V. Nabokov.
(2) "Vesna" [Spring]. Poem in Zhar Ptitsa [The Firebird], no. 7. Berlin:
"Russkoe iskusstvo," 1922 ++
RRA: Bordering the text are lovely color images, in a sort of
modernist/rustic Russian style, of fabulous birds of green, red and blue,
snaking around elongated trees set against a background of brilliant
orange: "the work of Nathalia Goncharova" (JR).
(3) "Rossiia" [Russia]. Poem in Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary
Annals], no. 11. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1922.
(4) "Rupert Bruk" [Rupert Brooke]. Essay and translation in Literaturnyi
al'manakh "Grani" [Literary Almanach "Grani," 1922.
[from the card:] "Nabokov writes, '"No other poet has so often, with such
tormented and creative vigilance, looked into the dusk of the beyond.'"
(5) "Bezhentsy" [The Exiles]. Poem in Antologiia satiry i iumora [The
Anthology of Satire and Humor], no. 90-91. Berlin: Mysl', 1922.
(6) Nikolka Persik [Colas Breugnon]. By Romain Rolland. Berlin: "Slovo,"
1922. Translation by Nabokov.
RRA: A translation of the original French into Russian, after a bet with
his father that he could "preserve the novel's difficult rhythm and rhyme."
[from the card]
(7) Grozd' [The Cluster]. Berlin: "Gamaiun," 1923.
RRA: 36 poems written between June 1921 and April 1922. "One section
dedicated to Nabokov's fiancee of the time, Svetlana Siewert." [from the card]
(8) Gornii put' [The Empyrean Path]. Berlin: "Grani," 1923.
RRA: VN's own Palace Hotel copy, complete with bookplate.
(9) Ania v stranie chudes [Alice in Wonderland]. By Lewis Carroll.
Berlin: "Gaimaiun," 1923. Translation by Nabokov.
RRA: On the cover: a whimsical hodge-podge of playing cards and clouds, a
dapper rabbit with fan, a mouse on its hind legs, a creeping lizard, a
satisfied-looking turtle, and an Alice seated on the grass in the midst of
all this, covering her eyes. The characters of the title swirl around the
characters of the novel.
CASE 2: SIRIN'S EMIGRE PROSE: BERLIN AND PARIS
(10) Mashen'ka [Mary]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1926.
(11) Korol', dama, valet [King, Queen, Knave]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1928 *
(12) Sogliadatai [The Eye]. Parizh: Russkiia zapiski, 1928.
(13) Zashchita Luzhina [The Defense]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1930.
(14) Kamera obskura [Camera Obscura]. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1932.
RRA: On the cover: the title and name of the author in Cyrillic repeated
within each frame of a wound-out spool of film.
(15) Podvig [The Exploit]. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1932.
(16) Otchaianie [Despair]. Berlin: Petropolis, 1936.
(16a) Otchaianie, Chapters 1-4, serialized in "Sovremennye zapiski." Vol.
54 (Feb. 1934).
(17) Dar [The Gift]. New York: Izd-vo im. Chekhova, 1952 *
(17a) Dar, Chapter 1, serialized in "Sovremennye zapiski." Vol. 63 (April
1937)
[from the card:] "[Book] Inscribed, with a butterfly drawing [RRA: in
thick purple and blue pen] by Nabokov to Professor and Mrs. Harry Levin:
Nedavno, vizhu son : u kogo-to (-- kakaia-to sonnaia smies' Sorokona i
Vil'sona) -- mnogo gostei I ty, Lenochka, podkhodish' i govorish : ia i
Garri tol'ko chto pereveli Dar!
Recently, I've had a dream : at somebody's [home] (a kind of sleeping
mixture of Sorokin and Wilson); there are many guests -- and you, Lenochka,
are coming up to me and telling me: I and Harry have just now translated
The Gift!"
(18) Priglashenie no kazn' [Invitation to a Beheading]. Parizh: "Dom
Knigi," 1938. *
RRA: Inscribed "for Lena and Harry" on the fly-leaf with a tiny butterfly
drawing in what looks to be purple and black colored pencils.
CASE 3: AMERICAN LITERARY CAREER, LOLITA, AND AFTER
(19) Laughter in the Dark. Indianapolis & New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1938.
RRA: Drawing in ink of a butterfly on the flyleaf.
(20) The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions,
1941.
(21) Bend Sinister. New York: Holt, 1947. *
RRA: Inscribed "for Lena and Harry" in a somewhat shaky hand, with an ink
and colored pencil drawing of a butterfly (who has flown in from off the
fly-leaf to grace the top right-hand corner of the programme's cover).
(22) Typed course descriptions. Cornell University, Spring Semester. *
RRA:
__________________________________________________
Prof. Vladimir Nabokov, Cornell University
Description of Courses. Spring Semester.
Lit. 312. Masters of European Fiction. 3hrs MoWeFr 12-12.50
Starting with a comparative study of three fantasies, Stevenson's
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gogol's The Carrick and Kafka's The Metamorphosis,
and going on to a close analysis of three novels, Tolstoy's Anna Karenin,
Proust's
In Quest of Lost Time (first volume only; in English translation) and Joyce's
Ulysses. All these works are studied from the point of view of structure and
style with great attentiont [sic] given to technical details and factual,
specific
features.
Lit. 326. Russian Literature in Translation. 3hrs MoWeFr 11-11.50
The same approach holds good for this course which covers
A Hero of Our Time ( Lermontov, in my translation); literal translations
of poems by Lermontov, Tyutchev, Nekrasov, Fet, and Blok; Turgenev's
Fathers and Sons (Guerney's translation); Tolstoy's Anna Karenin (students
enrolled in both courses substitute Hadji Murad and Death of Ivan Ilich);
and Chehov's [sic?] The Ravine and The Lady with the Small Dog.
________________________________________________________
(23) Typed chronology of Madame Bovary. [1952].
RRA: Typed manuscript of Chronology of Madame Bovary (listing details re
the "First", "Second" and "Third Parts" of the novel). In pencil, VN has
written "1815-1856", to signify the span of years covered. Also in pencil,
near the top right-hand corner, is this, presumably a note to Vera:
"I may be quite wrong but the three 'limit dates' [?] (marked with red)
seem to confirm this calendar."
He signs off with a "V". A red pencilled "x" is placed, for example, next to:
1840 (summer) Bertha born. x
This chronology seems to me an earlier drafting than the one pictured in
LECTURES, pgs. 176-77.
(24) Stikhotvoreniia, 1929-1951 [Poems]. Parizh: Rifma, 1952.
RRA: An elderly, gray, pocket-sized volume.
(25) Lolita. Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955.
RRA: A slightly faded, forest green Olympia edition of Volumes One and
Two. [from the card:] "Inscribed by the author on fly-leaf [RRA: on the
Volume One copy]: Lenochka and Harry Levin from V. February 1956. The
Continental Manor. Cambridge (with drawing of butterfly)."
(26) Four letters concerning Lolita. (New Directions Publishing Co.
Archive.)
RRA:
-- 1st letter: from VN to James Laughlin, Feb. 3, 1954. The Lolita
"timebomb" letter in which VN queries Laughlin as to whether he'd be
interested in reading a manuscript copy of the novel. In red pencil, is a
note to JL from Robert MacGregor, a New Directions colleague. Printed in
LETTERS, pgs. 144-45.
-- 2nd letter: from JL to VN, Oct. 11, 1954. "... worried about possible
repercussions both for the publisher and the author." JL suggests a Paris
firm. Mentioned in LETTERS footnote, p. 153n.
-- 3rd letter: from VN to JL, Feb. 24, 1956. Announces Lolita's
publication. Not included in LETTERS.
-- 4th letter: from VN to Robert MacGregor, Apr. 21, 1956. In which VN
answers to accusations of his novel as pornography, containing the
important declaration, "Pornography is not an image plucked out of context.
Pornography is an attitude and an intention. The tragic and the obscene
exclude one another." Regrettably, not included in LETTERS.
(27) Vesna v Fial'te [Spring in Fialta]. N'iu-Iork: Izd. im Chekhova,
1956. *
(28) Pnin. Garden City, NY.: Doubleday, 1957. ++
RRA: One hardcover first edition, 1958, with the cover art of Pnin that VN
admired so much ("potato nose" and copy of PNIN in Russian held by the main
character, with author's name included). One paperback edition, 1959, with
a similar-looking Pnin ogling a group of gigling coeds. Obviously, at work
here is the cashing-in on of the Nabokov-Lolita connection. Typically
inane quote on the cover (one which I'm sure VN must have loathed) by The
Saturday Review, "No one can read this book without becoming a Pnin man."
(29) Pale Fire. New York: Putnam, 1962.
CASE 4: RUSSIA REVIVED, LITERATURE AND POLITICS
(30) Nikolai Gogol. Typescript and Galley Proofs, [1944].
RRA: (a) The typescript, typed by Vera, looked to be complete, or almost,
and I would guess close to its final draft form, as there weren't a lot of
corrections (in ink) by VN. To give you an example of revision [brackets
indicate insertion], from the first page:
"Absolute bodily exhaustion [in result of a private] hunger strike [by
means of which his morbid melancholy had tried to counter the Devil]
culminated in acute xxxxxxxxxx anemia of the brain."
(b) The galley proofs visible contain the first two parts of the "Our Mr.
Chichikov" section, part two leading off wirh the unforgettable discussion
of 'poshlust', ending on the actual page proof with the condemnation of
Goethe's Faust. VN's corrections in faint blue pen mostly insist upon the
introduction of more italicization.
(31) Nikolai Gogol. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.
RRA: Signed "Vladimir Nabokoff" on the fly-leaf, with two ink drawings of
tiny butterflies, one named "Le Morio" and next to it a rough speck labeled
"petit papillon de nuit"; the other, less elaborate, is labeled "Papillon
blanc du chou, femelle" and next to it a small dot, "son oeuf".
(32) Three Russian Poets: Selections from Pushkin, Lermontov and Tyutchev.
Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.
(33) Novaia kniga: V. Zenzinov, V strecha s Rossiei: pis'ma v Krasnuiu
armiiu 1939-1940. New York, 1944? Nabokov's review of Zenzinov's book.
(34) "The Discourse of Igor's Campaign," 1952. Mimeographed translation.
JR: "... this is VN's translation and was used in teaching at Cornell and
also at Harvard."
(35) A Hero of Our Time. A novel by Mikhail Lermontov. Garden City,
N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958. Translation by Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov. ++
RRA: Paperback. The cover: a bleached out lime green sky above pink and
brown mountains; two figures: one, at a cliff's edge, points beyond the
mountain ranges, while the other on horseback looks on, managing two other
horses.
(36) Eugene Onegin: a novel in verse. Translation with commentary by
Vladimir Nabokov. New York, 1964.
(37) Typed letter signed. To Professor Richard Pipes, 1971.
RRA: The letter is dated May 11, 1971. Professor Pipes had written an
introduction to an English translation of VN's father's "The Provisional
Government" and VN wrote to him with great friendliness, praising his
introduction and wishing him well. (Oddly enough, Golda had just come from
an encounter with Professor Pipes on an upper floor of the library before
pointing this letter out to me.)
(38) Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Evgenii Onegin. Tret'e izd.
Sanktpeterburg: [I. Glazunov], 1837.
RRA: A small volume of Onegin in Russian that VN used for Volume 4 of his
Bollingen translation and commentary.
(39) Zadeka, Martyn. Novyi i polnyi orakul i charodiei... [The Manual on
Interpreting Dreams]. Moskva: D.I. Priesnov, 1880.
RRA: Used for EO footnoting purposes.
JR: "The point of this book in the exhibit was that VN found 'the dream
book that Tatiana used to explain her prophetic dream' in Widener."
CENTRAL CASE: LEPIDOPTERA AND THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY
(40) Lepidopteral specimens, from the MCZ, Harvard University.
RRA: Examples of Lycaeidnae (related to Nabokovian "blues") from all over
the world. Thirty-six lovely, colorful butterflies, most no bigger than an
inch in diameter, enclosed in glass and wood. See John Rutter's "complete
list" at bottom of page.#
(41) "A Few Notes on Crimean Lepidoptera." The Entomologist. Vol. 53, 1920.
[from the card:] "Not only Nabokov's first published scientific paper, but
also his first published appearance in English."
RRA: There is also beside it, though not listed in the programme, an "Amur
Hawkmoth" on display, with roughly a three-inch wing span. Didn't this bat
about Nabokov's screen in Bend Sinister?
(42) "On Some Asiatic Species of Carterocephalus." Journal of the New
York Entomological Society. Vol. 49, 1941 (offprint).
RRA: VN's first contribution to an American scientific journal.
(43) "The Neartic Forms of Lycaeides Hubner." Psyche. Vol. 50, 1943
(offprint).
(44) "Notes on Neotropical Plebejinae." Psyche. Vol. 52, 1945 (offprint).
(45) Autograph letter signed, with two maps. To James Laughlin, 1944.
RRA: Maps detail sights where VN had captured three Lycaeides melissa
Edwards (displayed in a nearby case, not listed in programme) during his
trip to Alta Lodge, Utah, summer 1943. In the letter, dated July 10, 1944,
VN asks Laughlin to ship materials to his lab at the MCZ. It can be found,
with maps, on pgs. 50-53 of LETTERS. One more specimen of the above
butterfly, taken by VN near Long's Park, Colorado in 1947 is also on
display [JR: "This specimen was included because it was taken by V&D
Nabokov during the same trip as the Columbine Lodge-Estes Park letter."],
in addition to four specimens of Lycaeides agyrognomon sublivens taken by
VN near Telluride, Colorado in 1951, as well as one non-VN captured "Red
Admiral" (Vannessa atalanta). The "Red Admiral" is the butterfly that
flits through Chapter 15 of Speak, Memory. None of these butterflies is
listed in the programme.
(46) Typed letter signed. To Gleb Struve, 1947. ++
RRA: From Columbine Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado. July 20, 1947. The trip
during which he wrote Chapter 3 of Speak, Memory. A general letter of
greetings and basic travel information, "on classic motel letterhead",
complete with such promotions running down the left hand side of the page
(below a picture of the U.S. flag) as "In the Heart of the Rockies",
"Saddle Horses by the Day or Week" and "Hot and Cold Water in Every Cabin
and Room". Not included in LETTERS.
(47) Drugie berega [Other Shores]. N'iu-Iork: Izd. im. Chekhova, 1954. *
RRA: Translation and revision of Speak, Memory into Russian. Inscribed by
VN "to Lena and Harry", with color drawing of a butterfly that also wound
up on the front cover of the programme, on the bottom of the page. There
is also a nice photograph of VN himself at his bench in the MCZ, taken from
the same sessions which produced the similarly-posed photo used in Boyd's
AMERICAN biography.
# John Rutter has also provided us with a complete list of all of the
lepidoptera featured in the exhibition:
(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus) "Red Admiral"
(Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
Smerinthus tremulae amurensis
(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Lycaena (Aricia) psylorita (Freyer) "Cretan Argus"
Callophrys sheridanii (Edwards) "Little Green Hairstreak"
Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus) "Spring Azure"
Everes comyntas (Godart) "Tailed Blue"
Feniseca tarquinius (Fabricius) "Harvester"
Glaucopsyche lygdamus australis Grinnell "Silvery Blue"
Hemiargus (Echinargus) thomasi arembis Nabokov "Caribbean Blue"
Lycaeides argyrognomon sublivens Nabokov "Northern Blue"
Lycaeides (Lysandra) coridon (Poda von Neuhaus) "Chalk Hill Blue"
Lycaeides (Meleageria) daphnis (Dennis & Schiffermüller) "Meleager's Blue"
Lycaeides melissa (Edwards) "Orange-Margined Blue"
Lycaena heteronea (Boisduval) "Blue Copper"
Lycaena rubidus (Behr) "Ruddy Copper"
Lysandra bellargus (Rottemburg) "Adonis Blue"
Maculinea arion (Linnaeus) "Large Blue"
Nabokovia faga (Dognin)
Palaeochysophanus hippothoe (Linnaeus) "Violet-Tinged Copper"
Lysandra (Plebicula) amandus (Schneider) "Amandus Blue"
Plebejus (Icaricia) icarioides (Boisduval) "Lupine Blue"
Satyrium (Strymonidia) W-Album (Knoch) "White-Letter Hairstreak"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan Asmussen
Administrative Assistant to the Chairman
Biomedical Engineering Department
Boston University
44 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
phone: (617) 353-8068
fax: (617) 353-6766
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday, May 27th, I had the privilege of being allowed access into the
Widener Library at Harvard to view the VN exhibition, "Vladimir Nabokov: An
Exhibition Marking the Centenary of his Birth", May 4 - June 2, 1999, on
display in the Rotunda. Co-Curator and Houghton Library Rare Book
Cataloger Golda Steinberg was good enough to provide me with a personal
tour and I'd like to thank her, here, once more, for her much appreciated
generosity of time and effort. I asked at the outset if she would mind if
I wrote up an overview for the NABOKV-L list, since I knew that many of you
would at least want to be able to read about, if unable to see in person,
the great work she and Co-Curator John Rutter of Ars Libri, Ltd. have
wrought, and she graciously agreed. The following pages describe in detail
exactly what was on display there and is interspersed with excerpts from
the information cards, text from the encased Nabokov exhibits, as well as
with my own observations. I have to thank John Rutter, as well, for his
knowledgable guidance and right-minded editing. It was clear to me, after
almost a full day among the glass cases, that a strong spirit of genuine
Nabokovian enthusiasm hovered over the proceedings and, in my subsequent
communications with Golda and John in preparation for this overview, I have
indeed been confirmed in my belief that this exhibition was for them an
excellent way in which to honor the man and the writer whom we, and the
world, so much admire.
When one entered the Rotunda, at the top of the main staircase past the
guarded entry, four waist-high glass cases skirted the perimeter, set off
by one large case, approximately six feet or more, positioned in the middle
of the floor. What follows is a description of the contents of each
container, all very tastefully and constructively arranged by the curators.
>From the programme: "All exhibited material from the Houghton and Widener
Libraries, except the lepidopteral specimens (Museum of Comparative
Zoology) and items marked: * (Mrs. Harry Levin), + (Professor Richard
Pipes), ++ (John and Kathleen Rutter)."
After the numbered entries: "RRA" will signify my remarks, while quotations
will denote material either from the information cards or from the exhibits
themselves. "JR" will signify additional remarks by John Rutter. Any
typographical errors or other confusions are mine alone.
CASE 1: EARLY POETRY AND TRANSLATIONS
(1) Stikhi [Poems]. Petrograd: Khudozh. graficheskoe zavedenie Union, 1916.
RRA: A slim, fragile volume, with an encroaching brown at the edges and
the name of the author in Cyrillic: V.V. Nabokov.
(2) "Vesna" [Spring]. Poem in Zhar Ptitsa [The Firebird], no. 7. Berlin:
"Russkoe iskusstvo," 1922 ++
RRA: Bordering the text are lovely color images, in a sort of
modernist/rustic Russian style, of fabulous birds of green, red and blue,
snaking around elongated trees set against a background of brilliant
orange: "the work of Nathalia Goncharova" (JR).
(3) "Rossiia" [Russia]. Poem in Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary
Annals], no. 11. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1922.
(4) "Rupert Bruk" [Rupert Brooke]. Essay and translation in Literaturnyi
al'manakh "Grani" [Literary Almanach "Grani," 1922.
[from the card:] "Nabokov writes, '"No other poet has so often, with such
tormented and creative vigilance, looked into the dusk of the beyond.'"
(5) "Bezhentsy" [The Exiles]. Poem in Antologiia satiry i iumora [The
Anthology of Satire and Humor], no. 90-91. Berlin: Mysl', 1922.
(6) Nikolka Persik [Colas Breugnon]. By Romain Rolland. Berlin: "Slovo,"
1922. Translation by Nabokov.
RRA: A translation of the original French into Russian, after a bet with
his father that he could "preserve the novel's difficult rhythm and rhyme."
[from the card]
(7) Grozd' [The Cluster]. Berlin: "Gamaiun," 1923.
RRA: 36 poems written between June 1921 and April 1922. "One section
dedicated to Nabokov's fiancee of the time, Svetlana Siewert." [from the card]
(8) Gornii put' [The Empyrean Path]. Berlin: "Grani," 1923.
RRA: VN's own Palace Hotel copy, complete with bookplate.
(9) Ania v stranie chudes [Alice in Wonderland]. By Lewis Carroll.
Berlin: "Gaimaiun," 1923. Translation by Nabokov.
RRA: On the cover: a whimsical hodge-podge of playing cards and clouds, a
dapper rabbit with fan, a mouse on its hind legs, a creeping lizard, a
satisfied-looking turtle, and an Alice seated on the grass in the midst of
all this, covering her eyes. The characters of the title swirl around the
characters of the novel.
CASE 2: SIRIN'S EMIGRE PROSE: BERLIN AND PARIS
(10) Mashen'ka [Mary]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1926.
(11) Korol', dama, valet [King, Queen, Knave]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1928 *
(12) Sogliadatai [The Eye]. Parizh: Russkiia zapiski, 1928.
(13) Zashchita Luzhina [The Defense]. Berlin: "Slovo," 1930.
(14) Kamera obskura [Camera Obscura]. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1932.
RRA: On the cover: the title and name of the author in Cyrillic repeated
within each frame of a wound-out spool of film.
(15) Podvig [The Exploit]. Parizh: Sovremennye zapiski, 1932.
(16) Otchaianie [Despair]. Berlin: Petropolis, 1936.
(16a) Otchaianie, Chapters 1-4, serialized in "Sovremennye zapiski." Vol.
54 (Feb. 1934).
(17) Dar [The Gift]. New York: Izd-vo im. Chekhova, 1952 *
(17a) Dar, Chapter 1, serialized in "Sovremennye zapiski." Vol. 63 (April
1937)
[from the card:] "[Book] Inscribed, with a butterfly drawing [RRA: in
thick purple and blue pen] by Nabokov to Professor and Mrs. Harry Levin:
Nedavno, vizhu son : u kogo-to (-- kakaia-to sonnaia smies' Sorokona i
Vil'sona) -- mnogo gostei I ty, Lenochka, podkhodish' i govorish : ia i
Garri tol'ko chto pereveli Dar!
Recently, I've had a dream : at somebody's [home] (a kind of sleeping
mixture of Sorokin and Wilson); there are many guests -- and you, Lenochka,
are coming up to me and telling me: I and Harry have just now translated
The Gift!"
(18) Priglashenie no kazn' [Invitation to a Beheading]. Parizh: "Dom
Knigi," 1938. *
RRA: Inscribed "for Lena and Harry" on the fly-leaf with a tiny butterfly
drawing in what looks to be purple and black colored pencils.
CASE 3: AMERICAN LITERARY CAREER, LOLITA, AND AFTER
(19) Laughter in the Dark. Indianapolis & New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1938.
RRA: Drawing in ink of a butterfly on the flyleaf.
(20) The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions,
1941.
(21) Bend Sinister. New York: Holt, 1947. *
RRA: Inscribed "for Lena and Harry" in a somewhat shaky hand, with an ink
and colored pencil drawing of a butterfly (who has flown in from off the
fly-leaf to grace the top right-hand corner of the programme's cover).
(22) Typed course descriptions. Cornell University, Spring Semester. *
RRA:
__________________________________________________
Prof. Vladimir Nabokov, Cornell University
Description of Courses. Spring Semester.
Lit. 312. Masters of European Fiction. 3hrs MoWeFr 12-12.50
Starting with a comparative study of three fantasies, Stevenson's
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gogol's The Carrick and Kafka's The Metamorphosis,
and going on to a close analysis of three novels, Tolstoy's Anna Karenin,
Proust's
In Quest of Lost Time (first volume only; in English translation) and Joyce's
Ulysses. All these works are studied from the point of view of structure and
style with great attentiont [sic] given to technical details and factual,
specific
features.
Lit. 326. Russian Literature in Translation. 3hrs MoWeFr 11-11.50
The same approach holds good for this course which covers
A Hero of Our Time ( Lermontov, in my translation); literal translations
of poems by Lermontov, Tyutchev, Nekrasov, Fet, and Blok; Turgenev's
Fathers and Sons (Guerney's translation); Tolstoy's Anna Karenin (students
enrolled in both courses substitute Hadji Murad and Death of Ivan Ilich);
and Chehov's [sic?] The Ravine and The Lady with the Small Dog.
________________________________________________________
(23) Typed chronology of Madame Bovary. [1952].
RRA: Typed manuscript of Chronology of Madame Bovary (listing details re
the "First", "Second" and "Third Parts" of the novel). In pencil, VN has
written "1815-1856", to signify the span of years covered. Also in pencil,
near the top right-hand corner, is this, presumably a note to Vera:
"I may be quite wrong but the three 'limit dates' [?] (marked with red)
seem to confirm this calendar."
He signs off with a "V". A red pencilled "x" is placed, for example, next to:
1840 (summer) Bertha born. x
This chronology seems to me an earlier drafting than the one pictured in
LECTURES, pgs. 176-77.
(24) Stikhotvoreniia, 1929-1951 [Poems]. Parizh: Rifma, 1952.
RRA: An elderly, gray, pocket-sized volume.
(25) Lolita. Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955.
RRA: A slightly faded, forest green Olympia edition of Volumes One and
Two. [from the card:] "Inscribed by the author on fly-leaf [RRA: on the
Volume One copy]: Lenochka and Harry Levin from V. February 1956. The
Continental Manor. Cambridge (with drawing of butterfly)."
(26) Four letters concerning Lolita. (New Directions Publishing Co.
Archive.)
RRA:
-- 1st letter: from VN to James Laughlin, Feb. 3, 1954. The Lolita
"timebomb" letter in which VN queries Laughlin as to whether he'd be
interested in reading a manuscript copy of the novel. In red pencil, is a
note to JL from Robert MacGregor, a New Directions colleague. Printed in
LETTERS, pgs. 144-45.
-- 2nd letter: from JL to VN, Oct. 11, 1954. "... worried about possible
repercussions both for the publisher and the author." JL suggests a Paris
firm. Mentioned in LETTERS footnote, p. 153n.
-- 3rd letter: from VN to JL, Feb. 24, 1956. Announces Lolita's
publication. Not included in LETTERS.
-- 4th letter: from VN to Robert MacGregor, Apr. 21, 1956. In which VN
answers to accusations of his novel as pornography, containing the
important declaration, "Pornography is not an image plucked out of context.
Pornography is an attitude and an intention. The tragic and the obscene
exclude one another." Regrettably, not included in LETTERS.
(27) Vesna v Fial'te [Spring in Fialta]. N'iu-Iork: Izd. im Chekhova,
1956. *
(28) Pnin. Garden City, NY.: Doubleday, 1957. ++
RRA: One hardcover first edition, 1958, with the cover art of Pnin that VN
admired so much ("potato nose" and copy of PNIN in Russian held by the main
character, with author's name included). One paperback edition, 1959, with
a similar-looking Pnin ogling a group of gigling coeds. Obviously, at work
here is the cashing-in on of the Nabokov-Lolita connection. Typically
inane quote on the cover (one which I'm sure VN must have loathed) by The
Saturday Review, "No one can read this book without becoming a Pnin man."
(29) Pale Fire. New York: Putnam, 1962.
CASE 4: RUSSIA REVIVED, LITERATURE AND POLITICS
(30) Nikolai Gogol. Typescript and Galley Proofs, [1944].
RRA: (a) The typescript, typed by Vera, looked to be complete, or almost,
and I would guess close to its final draft form, as there weren't a lot of
corrections (in ink) by VN. To give you an example of revision [brackets
indicate insertion], from the first page:
"Absolute bodily exhaustion [in result of a private] hunger strike [by
means of which his morbid melancholy had tried to counter the Devil]
culminated in acute xxxxxxxxxx anemia of the brain."
(b) The galley proofs visible contain the first two parts of the "Our Mr.
Chichikov" section, part two leading off wirh the unforgettable discussion
of 'poshlust', ending on the actual page proof with the condemnation of
Goethe's Faust. VN's corrections in faint blue pen mostly insist upon the
introduction of more italicization.
(31) Nikolai Gogol. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.
RRA: Signed "Vladimir Nabokoff" on the fly-leaf, with two ink drawings of
tiny butterflies, one named "Le Morio" and next to it a rough speck labeled
"petit papillon de nuit"; the other, less elaborate, is labeled "Papillon
blanc du chou, femelle" and next to it a small dot, "son oeuf".
(32) Three Russian Poets: Selections from Pushkin, Lermontov and Tyutchev.
Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.
(33) Novaia kniga: V. Zenzinov, V strecha s Rossiei: pis'ma v Krasnuiu
armiiu 1939-1940. New York, 1944? Nabokov's review of Zenzinov's book.
(34) "The Discourse of Igor's Campaign," 1952. Mimeographed translation.
JR: "... this is VN's translation and was used in teaching at Cornell and
also at Harvard."
(35) A Hero of Our Time. A novel by Mikhail Lermontov. Garden City,
N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958. Translation by Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov. ++
RRA: Paperback. The cover: a bleached out lime green sky above pink and
brown mountains; two figures: one, at a cliff's edge, points beyond the
mountain ranges, while the other on horseback looks on, managing two other
horses.
(36) Eugene Onegin: a novel in verse. Translation with commentary by
Vladimir Nabokov. New York, 1964.
(37) Typed letter signed. To Professor Richard Pipes, 1971.
RRA: The letter is dated May 11, 1971. Professor Pipes had written an
introduction to an English translation of VN's father's "The Provisional
Government" and VN wrote to him with great friendliness, praising his
introduction and wishing him well. (Oddly enough, Golda had just come from
an encounter with Professor Pipes on an upper floor of the library before
pointing this letter out to me.)
(38) Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Evgenii Onegin. Tret'e izd.
Sanktpeterburg: [I. Glazunov], 1837.
RRA: A small volume of Onegin in Russian that VN used for Volume 4 of his
Bollingen translation and commentary.
(39) Zadeka, Martyn. Novyi i polnyi orakul i charodiei... [The Manual on
Interpreting Dreams]. Moskva: D.I. Priesnov, 1880.
RRA: Used for EO footnoting purposes.
JR: "The point of this book in the exhibit was that VN found 'the dream
book that Tatiana used to explain her prophetic dream' in Widener."
CENTRAL CASE: LEPIDOPTERA AND THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY
(40) Lepidopteral specimens, from the MCZ, Harvard University.
RRA: Examples of Lycaeidnae (related to Nabokovian "blues") from all over
the world. Thirty-six lovely, colorful butterflies, most no bigger than an
inch in diameter, enclosed in glass and wood. See John Rutter's "complete
list" at bottom of page.#
(41) "A Few Notes on Crimean Lepidoptera." The Entomologist. Vol. 53, 1920.
[from the card:] "Not only Nabokov's first published scientific paper, but
also his first published appearance in English."
RRA: There is also beside it, though not listed in the programme, an "Amur
Hawkmoth" on display, with roughly a three-inch wing span. Didn't this bat
about Nabokov's screen in Bend Sinister?
(42) "On Some Asiatic Species of Carterocephalus." Journal of the New
York Entomological Society. Vol. 49, 1941 (offprint).
RRA: VN's first contribution to an American scientific journal.
(43) "The Neartic Forms of Lycaeides Hubner." Psyche. Vol. 50, 1943
(offprint).
(44) "Notes on Neotropical Plebejinae." Psyche. Vol. 52, 1945 (offprint).
(45) Autograph letter signed, with two maps. To James Laughlin, 1944.
RRA: Maps detail sights where VN had captured three Lycaeides melissa
Edwards (displayed in a nearby case, not listed in programme) during his
trip to Alta Lodge, Utah, summer 1943. In the letter, dated July 10, 1944,
VN asks Laughlin to ship materials to his lab at the MCZ. It can be found,
with maps, on pgs. 50-53 of LETTERS. One more specimen of the above
butterfly, taken by VN near Long's Park, Colorado in 1947 is also on
display [JR: "This specimen was included because it was taken by V&D
Nabokov during the same trip as the Columbine Lodge-Estes Park letter."],
in addition to four specimens of Lycaeides agyrognomon sublivens taken by
VN near Telluride, Colorado in 1951, as well as one non-VN captured "Red
Admiral" (Vannessa atalanta). The "Red Admiral" is the butterfly that
flits through Chapter 15 of Speak, Memory. None of these butterflies is
listed in the programme.
(46) Typed letter signed. To Gleb Struve, 1947. ++
RRA: From Columbine Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado. July 20, 1947. The trip
during which he wrote Chapter 3 of Speak, Memory. A general letter of
greetings and basic travel information, "on classic motel letterhead",
complete with such promotions running down the left hand side of the page
(below a picture of the U.S. flag) as "In the Heart of the Rockies",
"Saddle Horses by the Day or Week" and "Hot and Cold Water in Every Cabin
and Room". Not included in LETTERS.
(47) Drugie berega [Other Shores]. N'iu-Iork: Izd. im. Chekhova, 1954. *
RRA: Translation and revision of Speak, Memory into Russian. Inscribed by
VN "to Lena and Harry", with color drawing of a butterfly that also wound
up on the front cover of the programme, on the bottom of the page. There
is also a nice photograph of VN himself at his bench in the MCZ, taken from
the same sessions which produced the similarly-posed photo used in Boyd's
AMERICAN biography.
# John Rutter has also provided us with a complete list of all of the
lepidoptera featured in the exhibition:
(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus) "Red Admiral"
(Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
Smerinthus tremulae amurensis
(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Lycaena (Aricia) psylorita (Freyer) "Cretan Argus"
Callophrys sheridanii (Edwards) "Little Green Hairstreak"
Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus) "Spring Azure"
Everes comyntas (Godart) "Tailed Blue"
Feniseca tarquinius (Fabricius) "Harvester"
Glaucopsyche lygdamus australis Grinnell "Silvery Blue"
Hemiargus (Echinargus) thomasi arembis Nabokov "Caribbean Blue"
Lycaeides argyrognomon sublivens Nabokov "Northern Blue"
Lycaeides (Lysandra) coridon (Poda von Neuhaus) "Chalk Hill Blue"
Lycaeides (Meleageria) daphnis (Dennis & Schiffermüller) "Meleager's Blue"
Lycaeides melissa (Edwards) "Orange-Margined Blue"
Lycaena heteronea (Boisduval) "Blue Copper"
Lycaena rubidus (Behr) "Ruddy Copper"
Lysandra bellargus (Rottemburg) "Adonis Blue"
Maculinea arion (Linnaeus) "Large Blue"
Nabokovia faga (Dognin)
Palaeochysophanus hippothoe (Linnaeus) "Violet-Tinged Copper"
Lysandra (Plebicula) amandus (Schneider) "Amandus Blue"
Plebejus (Icaricia) icarioides (Boisduval) "Lupine Blue"
Satyrium (Strymonidia) W-Album (Knoch) "White-Letter Hairstreak"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan Asmussen
Administrative Assistant to the Chairman
Biomedical Engineering Department
Boston University
44 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
phone: (617) 353-8068
fax: (617) 353-6766
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~