Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

At the end of his manuscript Humbert Humbert (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955) mentions aurochs and angels:

In his foreword to Humbert Humbert’s manuscript John Ray, Jr. (a character in VN’s novel Lolita, 1955) mentions “My Cue,” a biography written by Vivian Darkbloom:

Describing Izumrudov's visit to Gradus (Shade's murderer) in Nice, Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions the emerald waters of Zemblan northern shores:

Describing the King's escape from Zembla, Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions a shiver of alfear (uncontrollable fear caused by elves) that ran between his shoulderblades:

In Canto One of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN's novel Pale Fire, 1962) describes his house in New Wye (a small University town in New England) and mentions the phantom of his little daughter's swing:

I had a favorite young shagbark there

With ample dark jade leaves and a black, spare,

Vermiculated trunk. The setting sun

Bronzed the black bark, around which, like undone

Garlands, the shadows of the foliage fell.

Describing the king's escape from Zembla, Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions the words of a Russian general's faded wife, "War is an awful thing:" 

In his commentary to Shade's poem Kinbote (in VN's novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) describes the phenomena in the Haunted Barn investigated by Hazel Shade (the poet's daughter) a few months before her tragic death and quotes in full Shade's short poem “The Nature of Electricity:”

According to John Ray, Jr. (in VN’s novel Lolita, 1955, the author of the foreword to Humbert Humbert’s manuscript), Mrs. Richard F. Schiller (Lolita’s married name) died in childbed, giving birth to a stillborn girl, on Christmas Day 1952, in Gray Star, a settlement in the remotest Northwest:

Describing the Shadows (a regicidal organization), Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions a copy of a French newspaper with the headline: L'EX-ROI DE ZEMBLA EST-IL À PARIS?:

According to Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla), he superstitiously cannot write out the odd dark word employed by his gardener with respect to Gradus (Shade's murderer):

Line 998: Some neighbor's gardener