Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010567, Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:05:46 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Re: Typo? "Signs and Symbols" beech/beach
Date
Body
The "beech" spelling appears in the first
collected publication of the story, in Nabokov's
Dozen (1958), from which all subsequent
reprintings presumably derive. No mention of the
change is made in Nabokov's bibliographical note
to that volume. "Beech" is clearly wrong, but
equally clearly VN wanted it to stand. There is a
very similar crux in the text of Pnin, where, at
croquet, Pnin "teemed" with Madam Bolotov. That
spelling is sometimes let stand, because it can be
argued that Nabokov intended to convey the
lavishness of Pnin's expertise, but it was
corrected by Boyd in the Library of America
edition.

Mary
iambe@rcn.com
-----------------------------------------
EDNOTE. Mary is right. "Beach plum" (Prunus maritima) is the only correct
possibility. It grows near the coast in New England and is dark purple.

The common Russian word for plum is "sliva". "Plum jam" is slivovoe varen'e.
"Bich" (a whip or a scurge), a Russian homophone for both beech/beach, has no
apparent relevance.
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"Sandy Drescher" wrote:
>
> ----- Forwarded message from bunsan@direcway.com -----
> Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:58:28 -0500
> From: Alexander Drescher <bunsan@direcway.com>
>
> To The List-
>
> The following discrepancy was not addressed in by J. Morris ["Signs and
> Symbols and Signs." The Nabokovian, Spring 1994, 32, pp. 24-28.]:
>
> In the penultimate sentence of "Signs and Symbols" [Vintage, Stories p
> 603], one of the eloquent labels reads "beech plum". In the May 15,
> 1948 New Yorker, "Symbols and Signs", it reads "beach plum".
>
> Either 1] the New Yorker fact-checker 'corrected' a 'mistake' in the
> manuscript [beeches bear nuts; beach plums grow on an unrelated shrub;
> BeechNut made the jellies] OR, 2] Nabokov decided to forego an
> additional editorial squabble and accept the change pro tempore; OR 3]
> the Vintage version is a typographer's slip.
>
> I like answer number 2. Can someone shed light on this?
>
> -Sandy Drescher
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
> EDNOTE. One suspects The NEW YORKER slipped up. It would be good though if
> someone checked the MS in the Berg. The story is so full of tantalizing hints
> that every possibility deserves checking. Especially those damned fruit
> jellies.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> To The List-
>
> The following discrepancy was not addressed in by J. Morris ["Signs and
Symbols and Signs." The Nabokovian, Spring 1994, 32, pp. 24-28.]:
>
> In the penultimate sentence of "Signs and Symbols" [Vintage, Stories p 603],
one of the eloquent labels reads "beech plum". In the May 15, 1948 New Yorker,
"Symbols and Signs", it reads "beach plum".
>
> Either 1] the New Yorker fact-checker 'corrected' a 'mistake' in the
manuscript [beeches bear nuts; beach plums grow on an unrelated shrub; BeechNut
made the jellies] OR, 2] Nabokov decided to forego an additional editorial
squabble and accept the change pro tempore; OR 3] the Vintage version is a
typographer's slip.
>
> I like answer number 2. Can someone shed light on this?
>
> -Sandy Drescher

----- End forwarded message -----