NIKOLAI GOGOL
Norfolk, Connecticut: New Directions, 1944. Hardcover. First edition, later issue. The fifth volume in The Makers of Modern Literature series. Octavo: 172 p. with a frontispiece portrait and one additional plate. Original tan cloth binding, with blue titles. A near fine copy in the second state dust jacket designed by Alvin Lustig, with some mild toning and edgewear
Signed by the author on the front flyleaf:
Vladimir Nabokov
12 – VII – 1949
Salt Lake City
Nabokov (1899-1977) had the beginnings of Lolita knocking around in his head when he drove to Salt Lake City for the second Writers’ Conference at the University of Utah (July 5-16, 1949). In attendance were Oscar Williams, Wallace Stegner, Martha Foley, and John Crowe Ransom – all formidable figures in the literary world, but none caught the attention of Nabokov quite like former political cartoonist and two-time author Ted Geisel, better known today as Dr. Seuss, with whom the Russian-American novelist shared a friendship for many years. Nabokov returned to Utah in 1956 to hunt butterflies and work on Pnin (1957), the novel which launched his career into literary prominence. Near fine / Very good. Item #74621
Price: $7,500.00