Details
NABOKOV, Vladimir (1899-1977). Nabokov's reading copy of the Stikhotvorenia (poems) of Fyodor Tyutchev (n.p.: Slovo, 1921), ANNOTATED BY NABOKOV ON 35 PAGES, IN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN, numerous other passages simply marked in pencil (yellowed, marks of heavy use, including short tears to lower margins). Cloth-backed boards (worn, stamp of 'Contrôle des Informations, R[épublique] F[rançaise]' to lower endpaper). Provenance: by descent from Vladimir Nabokov.
NABOKOV AS READER AND TRANSLATOR. Nabokov's annotations go through the whole range of his reactions to Tyutchev's poems, from simple explication or commentary to translation, both of single words and of phrases and more extended passages. His commentaries are at times simply factual (for example pinning down classical alusions, or noting a metrical scheme), but are frequently more reflective, often marking 'Imagery', 'merging of sounds, images, meaning and grammar!'; 'Tutchev clumsiness the a[w]kwardness of genius', 'mark the compressed style correspond[s] to the sense of burden of passion'. His translations (no doubt preparatory work for his 1945 and 1947 selections from Tyutchev) are usually of single words or phrases (sometimes apparently noted for their alliterative appeal, 'languid light', 'moistly meander'), though in the case of [pp.186-8] and [p.195] they amount almost to complete stanzas, 'The sky is overcast with sullen night clouds', 'flashes of sheet-lightning convene in alphabetic light'; 'You will not understand her with the mind nor find her measure with your caliper her state and stamp are of a special kind -- all you can do is to believe in her'. The most substantial annotations are at 'Slezy' [Tears], 'Vecher' [Evening], 'Problesk' [A Glimmer], 'Sumerki' [Twighlights], 'Videnie' [A Vision], 'Tsitseron' [Cicero], 'Den I Noch' [Night and Day] and 'Ia. P. Polonskomu' [To Ia. P. Polonsky].
NABOKOV AS READER AND TRANSLATOR. Nabokov's annotations go through the whole range of his reactions to Tyutchev's poems, from simple explication or commentary to translation, both of single words and of phrases and more extended passages. His commentaries are at times simply factual (for example pinning down classical alusions, or noting a metrical scheme), but are frequently more reflective, often marking 'Imagery', 'merging of sounds, images, meaning and grammar!'; 'Tutchev clumsiness the a[w]kwardness of genius', 'mark the compressed style correspond[s] to the sense of burden of passion'. His translations (no doubt preparatory work for his 1945 and 1947 selections from Tyutchev) are usually of single words or phrases (sometimes apparently noted for their alliterative appeal, 'languid light', 'moistly meander'), though in the case of [pp.186-8] and [p.195] they amount almost to complete stanzas, 'The sky is overcast with sullen night clouds', 'flashes of sheet-lightning convene in alphabetic light'; 'You will not understand her with the mind nor find her measure with your caliper her state and stamp are of a special kind -- all you can do is to believe in her'. The most substantial annotations are at 'Slezy' [Tears], 'Vecher' [Evening], 'Problesk' [A Glimmer], 'Sumerki' [Twighlights], 'Videnie' [A Vision], 'Tsitseron' [Cicero], 'Den I Noch' [Night and Day] and 'Ia. P. Polonskomu' [To Ia. P. Polonsky].
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