Nabokov and his Books: Between Late Modernism and the Literary Marketplace PDF
Preview Nabokov and his Books: Between Late Modernism and the Literary Marketplace
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–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 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©DuncanWhite2017 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2017 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016945574 ISBN 978–0–19–873762–9 PrintedinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,StIvesplc LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. 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.
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