Thanks, Don, for that post--great illustration! I have a
forthcoming piece on some trees in various works, including this
ginkgo in PF. Gerard de Vries also has written about it (and the
Goethe poem) in his article
on Zembla (date 2007-2008, according to the author). I
have been trying to figure out what an "old-fashioned butterfly"
might be. One thought I had was that it could be an old-fashioned
representation of a butterfly--one in an old painting, which we know
interested VN around the time he was writing the novel. One of the
butterflies he mentions--actually a strange, bird-headed butterfly
or moth--does show a wing spread very much like the ginkgo leaf in
some images (such as the one Don sent). It's the one in Heironymus
Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, which looks like the
wings of some sort of peacock moth --Saturnia pyri? I don't
remember VN's identification-- affixed to a bird: e.g. See
here for example. De Vries' article makes valuable points
about the role of the "muscat grape" in the poem. I am still trying
to figure it out.
Stephen Blackwell
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [NABOKV-L] Ginfo leaves ---BUTTERFLIES
Date: Sun, 5 May 2013 17:57:10 -0700
From: Don Johnson <chtodel@COX.NET>
Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
<NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
For Carolyn et al. The leaf of the ginko does indeed resemble the
wings of a butterfly.
Don Johnson