Publishing Lolita
The poem Nabokov inserts in Lolita to express Humbert Humbert's grief over Lolita's departure remained one of the author's personal favorites. In this copy of Poems, annotated for public performance, Nabokov has written out the poem on the rear endpapers. The text of the poem differs from that of the first American edition on one point: "Dolores" in the last stanza has been crossed out by Nabokov and changed to "Lolita." The book is further annotated throughout in Nabokov's hand with performance notes on vocal stresses, estimated reading times, and reminders to "pause" after reading each poem.
Vladimir Nabokov.
"Wanted, Wanted." Autograph manuscript in: Poems. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, (1961).
Gift of Jon A. Lindseth '56
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