THE GIFT; [if you like your books with elusive provenance and cryptic annotations, this one's for you].
New York: Putnam's Sons, (1963). First edition in English. From the collection of sportswriter Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman with his copious penciled notations about the text on rear endpaper and corresponding passages lightly marked in pencil in margins throughout. Also, with anonymous penciled notes on half-title page discussing Nabokov's story, "The Lyre," in The New Yorker magazine, with note-to-self "show Nicky Shoumatoff, ask if A. Avinov [Avinoff] knew these men. He [underlined for emphasis] is not mentioned." Andrey Avinoff (1884 - 1949) was a renowned lepidopterist, artist, and museum director upon whom, in fact, Nabokov is said to have at least partially based the main character in THE GIFT, Konstantin Godunov-Cherdyntsev. (Nicholas Shoumatoff was Avinoff's grandnephew). Also, with brief note laid in dated simply “4/12” and signed “B.C.” Written on yellow, lined notepaper, it identifies this copy as being from the library of Louise Seaman Bechtel. Bechtel (1894 – 1985) was an author, critic, teacher, and the first head of Macmillan’s children’s book department. She was good friends with Katherine S. White, the influential fiction editor for The New Yorker magazine who is credited with shaping the career of Nabokov, et al, and who published two episodes from THE GIFT in The New Yorker prior to the book’s release, “Triangle Within Circle” and “The Lyre,” as noted above. Very good to near fine with spine slightly shaken, mild foxing to top edge, and subtle spotting to boards; in about very good, price-clipped dust jacket with small tear repaired with archival tape on verso but otherwise only relatively light edge wear, and Nabokov’s name on spine faded away and often seen.
Item #72710
Price: $100.00