Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0006830, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:25:06 -0700

Subject
Fw: Jane Grayson's forthcoming Nabokov Book
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. This is the American printing of Dr. Grayson's excellent
Penguin book which was, until now, available in the US.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alphonse Vinh" <AVinh@npr.org>
To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 11:40 AM
Subject: Jane Grayson's forthcoming Nabokov Book


> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (40
lines) ------------------
> Dear fellow Nabokovians,
>
> I have received a preview copy of Jane Grayson's VLADIMIR NABOKOV. It is
> being published by The Overlook Press in January 2003. It's the Anglophone
> version of the lovely ALBUM titles in the Bibliotheque de la Pleaide
series.
>
> In the shipment I also received a forthcoming Samuel Beckett "album"
> (December 2002). Interesting given Nabokov's admiration for Beckett's
prose.
>
> At any rate, the Overlook albums are small, well-crafted and quite
> handsome. The back cover had a small photograph Nabokov sitting dashingly
in
> a Cambridge punter accompanied by Martin Amis' glowing comment: "The
> variety, force, and richness of Nabokov's perceptions have not even the
> palest rival in modern fiction."
>
> There are many heretofore unpublished photographs and illustrations in ths
> book. There are some fascinating early photographs of Nabokov's homes and
> estates in Russia, first edition book jackets and family pictures. Many of
> these illustrations are in full colour.
>
> Nabokov as a consummate drawer of maps and diagrams to illustrate this or
> that point to his students, would appreciate the map, of St Petersburg
which
> points out the Nabokov town house near the Mariinsky Palace and, of
course,
> VV's Tenishev School. I also viewed for the first time in colour, VV's
> sketch-map of the family estates of Vyra, Rozhdestveno and Batovo.
>
> Dr Grayson's book also has some delightful Nabokovian butterflies inserted
> in various pages. My favourite is the Arlequinus arlequinus, the last
> butterfly VV gave to Vera, drawn in August 1974 in a copy of LOOK AT THE
> HARLEQUIN! The Arlequinus' wings are adorned with multi-coloured patterns
in
> the shape of small, slanted squares.
>
> The book ends with a useful chronology of Nabokov's life and career (the
> Julian calendar is observed to detail VV's life between 1899 and 1918),
> primary and secondary bibliographies.
>
> My kudos to Dr Jane Grayson for this delightful volume.
>
> Alphonse Vinh
> NPR
>