EDNOTE. I imagine "wing a terre" is a play on pied a terre, no?
----- Original Message -----
From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 11:23 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: query about Alexis Avenue from Alexey

Hello, Alex
 
In the references you brought up "Library" and "Alexis" were set in proximity and in a splendid isolation from the rest of the sentence, thus reminding me of  Latin "lexicons"  and  "illiteracy" in a curious geography. 
 
What is  "wing a terre": is it some sort of flat for wing-footed messengers, or a flying Van?
 
Jansy
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: D. Barton Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 10:56 PM
Subject: Fw: query about Alexis Avenue from Alexey

 
----- Original Message -----
From: alex
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 1:22 PM
Subject: query about Alexis Avenue from Alexey

Dear List members and especially the New York residents among you,
 
Could you tell me, what real avenue, or street, is meant by Ada's "Alexis Avenue" (on which Van has his wing a terre, "between Manhattan's Library and Park")? I have some ideas about possible origins of the avenue's fictional name, but I know little about New York's real streets and avenues.
 
Thank you,
Alexey