Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters 1940-1977
Page 18
Any arrangement regarding the repayment of the $750 will be, of course, acceptable.
Regarding A HERO OF OUR TIMES: I shall need a few notes to explain certain geographical, ethnological, and historical allusions. I would like also to write a short introduction—four or five typescript pages—explaining some peculiarities of Lermontov's style and drawing the reader's attention to the structure of the work.
I am faced with one little difficulty. The translation is based on the Soviet edition "Gosizdat Hudozhestvennoy Literaturi", Moskva, 1951, 135 pp., and it is absolutely necessary to have this text checked against the edition of Lermontov (Complete Works) published by "Academia" in 1936–1937. The HERO is in vol. 5 of this edition. The Cornell Library does not have this edition, and I think it is difficult to obtain. I wonder if you could help me in this. If you cannot obtain it at the Four Continents or Mrs. Rosen's, perhaps you could borrow it for me at the NY. Public Library or Columbia? I would not need to keep it for more than ten days or so. If I could get it by July 1, I would be finished with it before leaving Mt. Carmel. Or I might check the text later, in the proofs. I am delighted you liked my poor Lolita.2
Yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: HENRY ALLEN MOE
CC, 1 p.
Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY.
September 24, 1956
Dear Mr. Moe,
Indeed, I have an excellent candidate for a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her name is Sylvia Berkman. She teaches literature at Wellesley College. She has published a biography of Katherine Mansfield and a number of very good stories in Harper's Bazaar and Botteghe Oscure. Her work is subtle and of real literary value. But she is a writer who makes great demands of herself and therefore her work is time-consuming. She finds it almost impossible to combine writing with teaching and has so far been able to persuade the college to allow her to teach on a half-yearly basis, devoting the other half of the year to writing. The very quality of her work makes it difficult for her to make a living by writing alone. I am convinced that one whole year of security, devoted exclusively to creative writing, may result in a valuable book.
My other suggestion is in the nature of a query. Would you consider awarding a third fellowship to a split personality, Twiddledee and Twiddledum in one, or better say a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde combined, one half writer, the other half entomologist? I have written the better part of a novel ("Bend Sinister") and a considerable part of a book on Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", including a translation of the work, on two Guggenheim awards, in 1943 and in 1953, respectively. The Pushkin book has suffered some delays since then but will be ready for publication by Christmas.
On the other hand, I have devoted many years to entomological research and am the author of several monographs and papers on Lepidoptera, a list of which I attach to this letter. I have completely re-classified a group of Lycaenidae (as you can see from "A Field Guide to the Butterflies of North America" by Alexander B. Klots, of the City College of New York and the American Museum of Natural History). I have described and named a number of species and subspecies, and other scientists have named lepidoptera after me.
For several summers now I have been studying the lepidopterous fauna of the Rocky Mts. To complete these studies, I would need to examine certain collections, both in America and Europe, and then do some laboratory work. I might add that for six years I have been a Research Fellow in Entomology on the staff of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard.1
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: JASON EPSTEIN
CC, 2 pp.
Ithaca, N.Y.
1 October 1956
Dear Mr. Epstein,
I have just received the sketches. They are executed with talent, the picture as art goes is first-rate, but in regard to my Pnin it is wrong: The sketch looks like the portrait of an underpaid instructor in the English department or like a Republican's notion of a defeated Adlai, when actually he should look like a Russian muzhik cleanshaven. I am sending you some photographs of Pnin-like Russians, with and without hair, for a visual appreciation of the items I am going to discuss.
1. The head should look quite bald, without any dark margin, and must be ampler, rounder, smoother, more dome-like. Note Zhavoronkov and Yegorov for the type of head, which however should be bigger in Pnin's case, not egg-shaped. Maslov would be perfect, minus hair.
2. The glasses should be definitely tortoise-shell ones, with heavier, somewhat squarish frames.
3. The nose is very important. It should be the Russian potato nose, fat and broad, with prominent nostril curves. See Zhukovski for nostrils, and Obrastsov for a replica of Pnin's fat glossy organ; but Pavlov and Maslov are also good.
4. The terribly important space between nose and upper lip. This must be simian, large, long, with a central hollow and lateral furrows. See Zhavoronkov, Baykov, Yegorov, Zhukovski. The latter's lips are very Pninian. Pnin's bad teeth should not show.
5. The cheeks and jowls. Jowls and jaw should be large, broad, massive. See Baykov, Zhavoronkov, Yegorov.
6. The shoulders should be very broad, square, padded. Pnin wears a ready-made American suit of four years age.
7. The tie should be a flamboyant one.
Now, instead of all this, the sketches show a puny professor Milksop, with an egg-shaped face, flat nose, short upper lip, non-descript chin, sloping shoulders, and the necktie of a comedy bookkeeper. I have noticed long ago that for some reason illustrators do not read the books they illustrate. In my book, all the details listed above are mentioned in the first chapter, and repeated further on.
The lettering, title and name, is very handsome in both sketches. The larger one is perhaps more pleasing.
Splendid idea to have Pnin hold a book. The title on the book he holds should read
ΠΗИΗ
B.HAБОΚОВ1
I shall certainly not make any arrangements for LOLITA in this country before discussing them with you. Everything you have done for LOLITA until now delights me. I hope you will publish the thing in its entirety some day.2
I approve in advance whatever selection you make for the Anchor Review.3 It might be difficult for me to help there since in my mind I see the book as a whole.
We shall arrive in New York on Monday, the 15th, in the evening, and would like to see you on the 16th (any time is convenient) or on the 17th (evening only). We shall leave early on the 18th. It would be helpful if you could let me know now what is your preference, for I would like to plan the rest of my stay.
Yes, I have met Fred Dupee, though not in the Partisan Review, but years ago on a little peak in Darien.
The signed agreements must have reached you by now.
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: HOWARD NEMEROV1
CC, 1 p.
Ithaca, N.Y.
November 9, 1956
Dear Mr. Nemerov,
A correspondent has sent me a clipping—your delightful letter in a recent issue of the N.Y. Times. I think it is a very friendly and gallant gesture on your part. I wish I could send you a copy of "Lolita" but I too find it difficult to obtain copies. I have never been officially notified, however, that the book has been actually banned. You would do me a great favor if you could give me additional details.
Cordially yours,
TO: JASON EPSTEIN
CC, 1 p.
Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY.
13 November 1956
Dear Jason,
Véra and I thank you for your letter. The jacket is absolutely splendid—I never imagined that an illustrator could render an author's vision so accurately.1 I am afraid I was a little bitter about the preliminary sketch.
Thanks for the Nemerov letter. He is a gifted author and his sympathy was very welcome. I do not know him personally but I have a pleasant image of him.
Mr
s. K.N. Rosen, bookseller, of 410 Riverside Drive, has just sent me a clipping, presumably from a trade publication, from which I quote:
"OLYMPIA PRESS BANNED TITLES
"Practically all English titles printed by Olympia Press in
"Paris (sorry, we cannot give the address) have been banned
"in England and America. Latest to be banned by U.S. Customs
"is 'Lolita', a new novel by Vladimir Nabokov, which was
"called 'one of the best novels in 1955' by Graham Greene
"in The Sunday Times."
Do you think you could do without any quotations from Edmund?2 He never wrote anything of value about me except in the case of "Sebastian Knight" his misinterpretation of which he greatly admired. We are very close friends, I admire and respect him greatly, but it is not a friendship based on a similarity of opinions and approaches.
Our best regards to Barbara and you.
Sincerely,
TO: MAURICE GIRODIAS
CC, 1 p.
Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY.
November 15, 1956
Dear Mr. Girodias,
I thank you for your kind letter of November 12 with the promise not to dispose of the English-language rights of LOLITA without my written consent.
I was interested to learn that the US. Customs seems to have nothing against the book. If this situation endures, we shall probably have no trouble to find an American publisher for a new edition to be made here.
You go on to say that you intend to advertise and distribute the book in the US. I most earnestly entreat you to abstain from any such action. Please, read carefully the reason which compells me to do so.
The book is protected by an "Ad Interim" copyright only. This affords protection for five years, provided not more than 1500 copies of the book are entered into the US. Should you import more than this number of copies, the protection becomes void, both you and the author lose all rights in the book, and anyone can publish and sell it at will. As I have tried to explain before, this situation stems from the fact that I am an American citizen residing in the US. A book by such an author, if published abroad, can only be protected by a temporary (5-year) copyright, and not more than 1500 copies of such an edition can be imported at any time. A regular 28-year copyright can be substituted for the temporary one, if, within 5 years from date of original publication, a new edition is manufactured and published inside the US. This edition must be manufactured by American labor. This law is an outgrowth of the elaborate legislation protecting American labor against foreign competition. It is a rigid law and there is nothing that can be done about it. The five-year copyright is given only as a temporary protection between original publication and the bringing out of an American edition. The 1500 copies limit cannot be extended. If we exceed it, we lose all protection. Please check on this at the American Consulate in Paris if you wish any additional clarification. But by all means do so before you undertake anything to step up the importation of the book into the US.
Sincerely yours,
TO: JASON EPSTEIN
CC, 1 p.
Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY.
20 November 1956
Dear Jason,
Thanks for sending the LOLITA excerpts and the Dupee article. At first glance, it all looks fine. I shall devote more time to this matter during the Thanksgiving vacation. You will have it all back early next week.
Would the $400 honorarium cover both excerpts and article? If so, I would accept $200 for the excerpts and $200 (or more) for the article.1 I am writing to Paris to make sure that they won't mind my signing the agreement with the Anchor Review for the reprint of the LOLITA pieces. I think it will be all right and you can prepare the agreement. Send me an extra copy, if possible, so that I can send it to my agent for Olympia.
The two PNIN notes will also be returned to you within a few days now. It is a pity I cannot come to New York at this time. I shall regret having missed meeting my English publisher. Véra and I would be delighted if he decided to come to Ithaca.
It never occurred to me that you might want to use a particular comment by Edmund (I was thinking of an entirely different one).2 This is a general appraisal, and a very warm and kind one, and I have no objection whatsoever if you think it appropriate for use in the present occasion. You might want to skip the reference to Conrad, since he did not start upon his literary career in his native (Polish) language (as I did, in Russian).
Yes, I too liked the photograph of Edmund in the Book Review. We spent a delightful afternoon with him and Elena in Talcotville.
Take all the time you want with the Lermontov notes. In the meantime I have thought of another short novel I would like to translate for you sometime, "The Blackamoor of Peter the Great" by his great-grandson, Aleksandr Pushkin, with a fifty-page biography of that Moor.
I am sending you under separate cover the French translation of my novel "Lujin's Defense" ("La Course du Fou") which I have just received from Paris. The French edition is out of print, so I would like this copy back after you have read it.
I read with great interest what you had to say about the Anchor Review issue. It sounds wonderful.
Sincerely
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: MAURICE GIRODIAS
CC, 1 p.
Ithaca, N.Y.
December 14, 1956
Dear Mr. Girodias,
I thank you for your letter of November 20th. I would have answered sooner but I wanted to obtain the opinion of some literary friends in New York with regard to your plans.
I can give you no guarantee, but the general opinion is that you will have no difficulty in disposing in this country of your quota of 1500 copies (or whatever remains of this quota) at, say, $10 a copy.
If you intend to make any publicity, would you let me see and approve your copy, as well as the list of publications in which you plan to advertise?
You and I understand perfectly well that LOLITA is not the kind of book that should appeal to the kind of people you euphemistically call "amateurs". In fact, my friends here are waging an intensive campaign to establish the book as a literary achievement of artistic value and lasting importance, and to counteract the unfortunate publicity it received at the outset. Only after this has been achieved can one hope to have LOLITA published in this country.
As you know, some good reviews have already appeared in The Partisan Review and The Hudson Review.1 As you also know, lengthy excerpts will be published in The Anchor Review, which is to appear in early June. These excerpts will be accompanied by a wonderful article written by a well-known literary critic, F. Dupee, who thinks very highly of LOLITA. On my part, I am contributing to the same issue of The Anchor Review an essay explaining the author's point of view. Everybody recommends caution in selecting the right kind of publicity for your campaign.
Within a few days I shall be writing Mme Ergaz on some other aspects of the question and shall ask her to communicate with you.
There is something else I would like to mention: I have received no statement of accounts from you on either of the two dates on which they were due. I would appreciate receiving one now.
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: GRAHAM GREENE
CC, 1 p.
Ithaca, N.Y.
31 December 1956
Dear Mr. Greene,
From various friends I keep receiving heart-warming reports on your kindness to my books. This is New Year's Eve, and I feel I would like to talk to you.
My poor Lolita is having a rough time. The pity is that if I had made her a boy, or a cow, or a bicycle, Philistines might never have flinched. On the other hand, Olympia Press informs me that amateurs (amateurs!) are disappointed with the tame turn my story takes in the second volume, and do not buy it. I have been sent copies of the article, in which, about a year ago, a Mr. Gordon1 with your witty a
ssistance made such a fool of himself. It would seem, however, that a clean vulgar mind makes Gordon's wonderfully strong, for my French agent tells me that the book (the English original) is now banned by governmental decree in France. She says: "La réponse de James Gordon à l'article de M. Graham Greene a indigné certains puritains et ... c'est le Gouvernement anglais qui a demandé au Ministre de l'intérieur (of France) de prendre cette décision."
This is an extraordinary situation. I could patter on like this till next year. Wishing you a very happy New one, I remain,
Yours very sincerely,
FROM: GRAHAM GREENE
January 1957
ALS, 1 p.
Thank you very much. I thought Lollita a superb book + I am now, as a director of a publishing firm in England, trying to arrange its publication. In England one may go to prison, but there couldn't be a better cause!
Graham Greene
TO: KATHARINE A. WHITE
CC, 1 p.
Goldwin Smith Hall