EDNOTE. Lepidopterists Kurt Johnson is co-author of the delightful volume _Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius__--now avaiable in paperback.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Johnson, Kurt
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 1:13 PM
Subject: RE: Fw: Peter Moffat's play "Nabokov's Gloves": Response from Dmtri Nabokov

Looks like "we started something" that spins out of control; as Dmitri notes, none of these butterflies was discovered by his father, although it is likely they would have never been discovered if not for those who eventually "followed in the footsteps".   People really take license, don't they?  I just let Zsolt Balint, Dubi Benyamini and Steve Coates know about this.  And, of course, the butterfly sitting on the shoulder is not a blue but a nymphalid (family Nymphalidae) [specifically, or near, a common tropical species called "The Malachite" whose scientific name escapes me right now].   But it would be an easy butterfly to buy for an artist to use for rendering; it is one of the cheapest pretty butterflies out there on the commercial market (for those who are buying such things)--  beautiful butterfly, however, especially in "real life". 
 
alas
KURT
Dr. Kurt Johnson
-----Original Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 3:16 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Fw: Peter Moffat's play "Nabokov's Gloves": Response from Dmtri Nabokov

 
----- Original Message -----
From: nabokov
 FW: Peter Moffat's play "Nabokov's Gloves"

 

Stolen or not, the dialogue is full of utter nonsense.  Furhermore, on none of the many occasions when my father took me along when collecting, and in none of the numerous photographs of him taken in summer, did I ever see him wearing gloves.  I hope the rest of this play is more intelligent than the title and than this excerpt.

 

Best regards,

 

Dmitri

 

From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2003 7:57 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Peter Moffat's play "Nabokov's Gloves"


EDNOTE. The material below is shamelessly stolen from Juan Martinez' Nabokov web site at: http://www.fulmerford.com/waxwing/nabobilia/nv38.html
My thanks to Juan and, no less, to Akiko Nakata, who provided the material.

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         From  Peter Moffat's play "Nabokov's Gloves"

        Fran: Did you know that Nabokov was a lepidopterist? By the way. While we're waiting . . .
        Nick: Waiting?

        Joe: Really? Amazing.

        Nick: Fran.

        Fran: He discovered new species. Madeleina lolita.

        Joe: What? Really?

        Fran: Pseudolucia humbert.

        Joe: No.

        Fran: Yes. Actually.

        Joe: Brilliant.

        Fran: Amazing. They're Latin-American blues. Lolita and humbert. How long do you suppose they'd been around without a name? Before him. Before Nabokov found them. With his net and his white cotton gloves.

        Joe: White cotton gloves.

        Fran: It's what he wore. For butterfly hunting. Delicate hands, you see. Cotton gloves out there in the heat of the day.