Lolita

“Lolita…” three syllables for the title of a novel that very nearly never appeared and that sent shockwaves through the literary establishment. Discouraged at being unable to bring his manuscript to a satisfactory conclusion, Nabokov once attempted to burn it. Rescued from the flames by his wife, whose physical features and character Lolita partly embodies, the completed manuscript was subsequently submitted to numerous American publishers. Every attempt failed, publishers fearing criminal prosecution over what they saw as an “insane perversity” pervading every page of this scandalous, incandescent and transgressive narrative. Lolita was certainly not the first English-language novel to appear in its first edition in France; Joyce’s Ulysses and Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer were illustrious precedents.

It was therefore in France, in 1955, that Lolita first appeared, from the presses of Maurice Girodias. Even so, the book was banned, and Nabokov was reluctant to defend it any further: “I am somewhat loath to appear in the company of The Olympia Press. But I also find it hard to see the matter clearly. I must bear in mind that Cornell University has been very tolerant so far […]. On the other hand, I naturally wish to give Olympia all the support I can, even though, personally, I do not much care whether the ban is lifted or not, since Gallimard will in any case publish the French translation.”

A very fine copy.