Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,1/12/2016,SPi
OXFORD ENGLISH MONOGRAPHS
GeneralEditors
PAULINA KEWES LAURA MARCUS
PETER MCCULLOUGH SEAMUS PERRY
LLOYD PRATT FIONA STAFFORD
DANIEL WAKELIN
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,1/12/2016,SPi
Nabokov and his Books
Between Late Modernism and the
Literary Marketplace
DUNCAN WHITE
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3
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Acknowledgements
ThisbookbeganlifeasaDPhilthesisattheUniversityofOxford,where
IwasfortunateenoughtobesupervisedbyPaulGiles.Havingtaughtme
as an undergraduate at Cambridge, Paul always seemed to know what
guidance I needed and he coaxed me on with grace and generosity, like
Glenn Hoddle playing an elegant pass into the stride of a rather limited
full-back.IwasalsofortunatetohavemythesisexaminedbyDavidBethea
and Michael Wood, without whose encouragement and suggestions this
bookwouldnotexist.DavidandMichael’ssupporthasbeeninvaluableat
everystageofthisprocess.
Ihavebeentremendouslyluckytohavereceivedadviceandhelpfrom
withinthecommunityofscholarsdedicatedtoNabokov’swork:Stephen
Blackwell, Brian Boyd, Marijeta Bozovic, Emily Collins, Neil Cornwell,
Maurice Couturier, Sasha Dolinin, Leland de la Durantaye, Zoran
Kuzmanovich, Monica Manolescu, Priscilla Meyer, Ellen Pifer, Susan
ElizabethSweeney,andRachelTrousdaleallofferedinsights,suggestions,
andsupportatimportanttimes.EricNaimanmadethebookbetterevery
timehereadit.TommyKarshanistheNabokovianseeroftheEustoncafé
scene. With a typically brilliant aside back in 2008 Siggy Frank changed
thewholedirectionofmyresearchandsetmeonthepathtowritingthis
book. I owe a great debt to Jane Grayson, whose wonderful teaching
fosteredmyinterestinNabokovandwhoencouragedmetopursueaPhD
inthefirstplace.
Many other scholars have helped me along the way. At Oxford, Sally
BayleyandValentineCunninghamofferedvaluablefeedbackrightatthe
beginning of the project, and Ron Bush and Heather O’Donoghue
provided sage advice when needed. At Wellesley, Martin Brody shared
his insights into the cultural Cold War, Adam Weiner initiated me into
local Nabokovian lore, and Jimmy Wallenstein offered thoughts on
everything. At Harvard, Amanda Claybaugh made a pithily brilliant sug-
gestion that completely resolved a chapter-blocking impasse while the
feedback of the Harvard American Literature Colloquium was mightily
helpful in writing a new introduction.Inthe finalstages,AdamKelly was
remarkablygenerousinlettingmefilterbitsofthemanuscriptthroughhis
brilliantbrain.
vi Acknowledgements
Over the years the staff and librarians at the Bodleian Library, the
British Library, and the Widener Library have been generous with their
timeandknowledge.
I also want to thank Hannah Lowery at Bristol University’s Special
Collections for help consulting Nabokov’s correspondence with Penguin
Books,JaneCallahanforguidingmethroughtheNabokovmaterialatthe
ClappLibrarySpecialCollectionsatWellesleyCollege,andSteveCrook,
Rebecca Filner, and Isaac Gewirtz for their great help with the Nabokov
ArchiveattheNewYorkPublicLibrary.
Itwastremendouslyusefultobeabletoroad-testpartsofthisbookat
variousstagesandinvariousplaces.I’mgratefultotheUniversityofOxford
EnglishDepartment,theNabokovMuseum,StPetersburgStateUniversity,
the University of York’s English Department, Yale University’s American
LiteratureColloquium,andtheUniversityofMaineHumanitiesCenterfor
givingmeaforumtodiscussmywork.
TheyearIspentasa ResidentFellowattheNewhouseCenterforthe
Humanities at Wellesley College made it possible for me to finish this
book.I’mgratefultoCarolDoughertyforgivingmethatopportunityand
toher,JaneJackson,andtheotherNewhouseFellowsformakingitsuch
fun. I’m also thankful to Lauren Kaminsky, Jessica Shires, and my
colleagues in the Committee on Degrees in History and Literature for
givingmethesupportIneededtogetthisprojectovertheline.
TheinsightfulfeedbackIreceivedfromreadersatOUPhashelpedme
improve the book stage by stage and the patience of my editors, Rachel
PlattandEleanorCollins,hasallowedmetomakechangesbigandsmall
that have, I hope, made a substantial difference. I also want to thank
DorothyMcCarthyforcopy-editingthemanuscriptsobrilliantly.
Some friends read bits of this book, some listened indulgently, some
mightnotevenknowIhavewrittenit:I’mthankfulforthemall,especially
BenBerlyn,BrendanCooper,JonDay,AlexFeldman,RichardFletcher,
John Gaston, Jon Gharraie, Neelu Kumar, Tom Marks, Katie Murphy,
Alex Orquiza, Matt Sperling, Richard Tacon, Ed Vainker, and Sally
Whitehill.NoonehashelpedmemoreonthisprojectthanWillNorman,
bothasscholarandasfriend:hisinfluenceisstampedoneverypage.
Iwanttothankmyparents,JohnandWendy,andmybrothers,Tom
andIan,fortheirloveandsupport.Mywife,Eden,andmychildren,Bella
andLuke,areadailysourceofinspirationandpride.Thisbookisdedicated
tothem.
Contents
Permissions ix
ANoteontheText xi
ListofAbbreviations xiii
Introduction:CoarsePrint,DurablePigments 1
1. Contexts 23
2. Inspiration 51
3. Reading 95
4. Publication 139
5. Legacy 173
WorksCited 213
Index 227
Permissions
Extracts from the Vladimir Nabokov Archive by Vladimir Nabokov.
Copyright©VladimirNabokov1973,courtesyoftheVladimirNabokov
Archive at the Berg Collection, New York Public Library, used by
permissionofTheWylieAgency(UK)Limited.
ExtractfromAllenTate’sCorrespondenceisreproducedwithpermission
ofHelenH.Tate.
102-wordexcerptofletterfromJamesLaughlintoVladimirNabokov
dated 2 July 1941, copyright © 2016 by New Directions Ownership
Trust.UsedbypermissionofNewDirectionsPublishingCorp.
ThefinalsectionofChapter4appeared,inaslightlydifferentform,as
‘Dyeing Lolita: Nymphet in the Paratext’ in Lolita: The Story of a Cover
Girl(2013),editedbyJohnBertramandYuriLeving.Itisincludedhere
withthepermissionoftheeditors.
