A first-edition copy of Nabokov's second novel, Korol’, Dama, Valet’ (King, Queen, Knave).<ul><li>Vladimir Nabokov (Russian).</li><li>Berlin: Slovo, 1928.</li><li>259 pages.</li><li>Small octavo.</li><li>Original grey wrappers printed in blue and red.</li></ul> Nabokov declared in the foreword of the 1967 English translation of King, Queen, Knave, "of all my novels this bright brute is the gayest. Expatriation, destitution, nostalgia had no effect on its elaborate and rapturous composition." The novel is set in Berlin and is centered around the love triangle of a young German man Franz, his uncle Dreyer and Dreyer's wife Martha. The author would later study his American compatriots in detail, but it was not the case for his representation of German characters in his writing. Despite having lived in Berlin for a number of years, he "spoke no German, had no German friends, had not read a single German novel either in the original or in the translation." However, he believed that "in art, as in nature, a glaring disadvantage may turn out to be a subtle protective device."

Korol’, Dama, Valet’ / King, Queen, Knave

A first edition copy of Lolita, signed by the author.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Vladimir Nabokov (Russian).</li><li>Paris:&nbsp;Olympia Press,&nbsp;1955.</li><li>With the signature of the author on the flyleaf of the first volume: “Vladimir.”</li><li>With ownership signatures of the author's cousin, composer and cosmopolitan Nicolas Nabokov (1903-1978) on the flyleaf of each volume.</li><li>Bound in green printed wrappers, priced in francs: 900 on back wrappers, morocco backed slipcase, cloth chemises.</li></ul> The cousins got to know each other when the aristocratic Nabokov family arrived in Yalta in the aftermath of the Bolshevik coup, and their paths crossed repeatedly during their new lives in exile. Vladimir invented himself as one of the great literary figures of the twentieth century; Nicolas pursued his musical studies and achieved renown as a composer. Nicolas accepted a position at Wells College in Auburn, NY, in 1936; when war broke out in Europe, he was in a position to assist the German composer Hindemith and the Austrian artist and designer Victor Hammer in fleeing the Nazis. He also helped his cousin Vladimir, who sailed from France for America in May 1940. For The Return of Pushkin, first performed in 1948, Vladimir prepared the English text. Lolita gained worldwide notoriety for its author upon publication in 1955. Nicolas later wrote his cousin, “I never told you how much I liked both Pnin and Lolita and how happy I am about the success of the latter. The only thing that troubles me is that due to my vagrant, erotic past, people often think that Humbert Humbert is a portrait of me! I suppose that the way to profit by it is to say it openly and go on a lecture tour through American high schools and girls’ colleges under the title ‘How I did It …” (quoted in Giroud p. 313). The cousins met regularly through the 1970s.

Lolita (Signed First Edition)

A first edition, second issue copy of Nabokov's Lolita.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Vladimir Nabokov (Russian).</li><li>Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Bound in publisher's green, white and black printed wrappers.</li></ul> Nabokov's controversial novel was rejected by American publishers, but was finally accepted by the avant-garde Olympia Press in Paris and published in this two-volume edition. The novel was first brought to a wider English public by Graham Greene who selected it as one of his books of the year in an article in the Sunday Times newspaper. In 1956, John Gordon, editor of the Sunday Express, responded by calling it "the filthiest book I have ever read. Sheer unrestrained pornography," thus ensuring its enduring notoriety, and a ban in America and Britain until 1958.

Lolita

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first limited edition</a>, first printing of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=nabokov&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nabokov</a>'s The Real Life Of Sebastian Knight.<ul><li>Vladimir Nabokov (Russian).</li><li>Norfolk, Connecticut:&nbsp;New Directions,&nbsp;1941.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>205 pages.</li><li>Part of a limited edition of 1500.</li><li>Inscription on the front end-page reading "For [embossed name] Roger Dow with kindest regards From V. Nabokov", dated "1942". </li><li>Tan spine with black lettering.</li></ul>

The Real Life Of Sebastian Knight Signed First Limited Edition

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