Subject
Glass city and Wax person
From
Date
Body
According to Kinbote, the Zemblan Revolution had flickered first at the famous Glass Factory (Pale Fire, note to Line 130). The regicide Yakob Gradus was in the glass business. Sudarg of Bokay, a mirror maker of genius, is mentioned in the Index to PF.
I'm sorry if it was pointed out before, Stekol'nyi gorod ("Glass city") was an old Russian corruption of Stockholm. It is mentioned, for instance, in Tynyanov's story Voskovaya persona ("Wax Person," 1931):
- Наука там большая, - говорил шестипалый, - большая наука. И конь
там крылат, и змей рогат. И наука вся как есть уставлена по шафам; те шафы
немецкого дела и деланы в самом Стекольном городе. Камни честные - те в
шафах замкнуты, чтобы не покрали, их не видать. А другая наука - та вся в
скляницах, винных. И вино там всякое: есть простое вино, есть двойное
вострое.
Note the mention of vino (ethyl alcohol used for conservation of monsters in the Kunstkammer). Voskovaya persona (wax person) is the famous post-mortem model of Peter I by Carlo Rastrelli (see blow). St. Petersburg was founded by Peter I in 1703 and renamed Leningrad in 1924, after Lenin's death. Kinbote mockingly calls Gradus Vinogradus and Leningradus.
As to wax, it reminds one of the opening lines of Shade's poem:
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
By the false azure in the windowpane...
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
I'm sorry if it was pointed out before, Stekol'nyi gorod ("Glass city") was an old Russian corruption of Stockholm. It is mentioned, for instance, in Tynyanov's story Voskovaya persona ("Wax Person," 1931):
- Наука там большая, - говорил шестипалый, - большая наука. И конь
там крылат, и змей рогат. И наука вся как есть уставлена по шафам; те шафы
немецкого дела и деланы в самом Стекольном городе. Камни честные - те в
шафах замкнуты, чтобы не покрали, их не видать. А другая наука - та вся в
скляницах, винных. И вино там всякое: есть простое вино, есть двойное
вострое.
Note the mention of vino (ethyl alcohol used for conservation of monsters in the Kunstkammer). Voskovaya persona (wax person) is the famous post-mortem model of Peter I by Carlo Rastrelli (see blow). St. Petersburg was founded by Peter I in 1703 and renamed Leningrad in 1924, after Lenin's death. Kinbote mockingly calls Gradus Vinogradus and Leningradus.
As to wax, it reminds one of the opening lines of Shade's poem:
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
By the false azure in the windowpane...
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
