Vladimir Nabokov First Editions

• The Real Life of Sebastian Knight — 1941 · New DirectionsJuliar A21.1, first printing, issue a, published 6 December 1941 — the day before Pearl Harbor. Title page reads "NEW DIRECTIONS • NORFOLK, CONN."; copyright page reads "COPYRIGHT BY NEW DIRECTIONS, 1941"; the colophon reads "FIFTEEN HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED IN NOVEMBER MCMXLI, BY THE WALPOLE PRINTING OFFICE, MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK". Three points decide issue a: (1) BINDING — issue a is a rough woven burlap red…. The US New Directions 1941 edition is the true first — confirmed. This is Nabokov's first novel written in English (begun Paris, December 1938; finished January 1939), so no Russian original precedes it and no original-language precedence question arises. The first British edition is Editions Poetry London (PL), December 1945 (Juliar A21.2): plum cloth over boards, gilt spine stamping running across within a…. No book-club issue is documented for the 1941 first. The reprint traps are later editions rather than clubs: the 1959 New American edition (Juliar A21.3, twelve issues), the 1960 Weidenfeld & Nicolson British edition (A21.4), Penguin wrappers from November 1964 (A21.5), and Vintage from 1992 (A21.6). Critically, the second binding of the original 1941 sheets (issue b, smooth red cloth) is NOT a reprint — it is….
• Bend Sinister — 1947 · Henry Holt and CompanyTrue first published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, with the first-printing statement on the copyright page — from 1945 Holt placed a first-edition/first-printing statement, and the absence of any later-printing notice confirms the first. Bound in black cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, in a pictorial dust jacket; a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the point (beware…. US Holt 1947 is the true first. The first British edition did not appear until Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1960 (in the wake of Lolita), so US precedence is clear. Do not confuse 'first novel written in America' (Bend Sinister) with his first English-language novel overall, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (New Directions, 1941). No book-club issue documented for the 1947 Holt first. The 1960 Weidenfeld (UK) and later Time Reading / McGraw-Hill / Penguin issues are reprints or 'first thus.'.
• Lolita — 1955 · The Olympia PressTwo volumes in pea-green printed wrappers, issued in Olympia Press's Traveller's Companion Series as No. 66 — a single series number carried by BOTH volumes (not two separate numbers). Copyright page reads 'Copyright 1955 by V. Nabokov and The Olympia Press.' Volume one runs to about 188 pp, volume two to about 223 pp. The true first issue has 'Francs: 900' printed at the foot of the rear wrapper of each volume,…. The Paris Olympia two-volume set (September 1955, 5,000 copies) is the true world first. Later copies of the same edition were repriced to 1,200 francs — usually by a sticker or overstamp covering the 900-franc figure — so a clean, un-obscured 'Francs: 900' marks the first issue. The US first is G. P. Putnam's Sons (1958); the UK first is Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, November 1959). The two-volume Paris…. Any copy showing the 1,200-franc price — printed, stickered, or overstamped over the 900 — is a later state, not the first issue. Any single-volume English-language copy is a later edition (Putnam, Weidenfeld, or a reprint), not the Olympia two-volume first.
• Pnin — 1957 · Doubleday & CompanyFirst printing has 'First Edition' stated at the foot of the copyright page, and the title page carries '1957' after the Garden City, New York publisher location. The second printing (issued only about two weeks later) drops the '1957' from the title page. Bound in black boards lettered on the spine; first-issue jacket carries the printed price. US Doubleday (published March 1957) is the true first; the UK William Heinemann edition followed later the same year (September/October 1957). Doubleday book-club copies use the same plates on cheaper paper, are blind-stamped on the rear board, and carry no price on the jacket.
• Pale Fire — 1962 · G. P. Putnam's SonsUS G. P. Putnam's Sons first edition states 'First Impression' on the copyright page. Bound in full black cloth with the author's initials blind-embossed on the front board and gilt lettering to the spine, with red top-stain and red endpapers; 315 pages. First-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's printed price on the front flap (present on an unclipped first-issue jacket); the jacket is notably fragile and…. US Putnam is the true first; the UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition (1962) is later. The stated 'First Impression' on the copyright page is the defining first-printing point. The book-club edition lacks the 'First Impression' statement, bears a blind-stamped code dot to the lower rear board, and is printed on bulkier, lower-grade paper; club copies are typically slightly smaller and lighter than the Putnam trade first.
• The Gift (Dar) — 1963 · G. P. Putnam's SonsFirst English edition, translated by Michael Scammell in collaboration with the author (with Dmitri Nabokov). G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, published May 27, 1963; identify the first printing by the stated first edition. The UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition followed on November 8, 1963, using the same translation. Originally serialized in Russian (Sovremennye Zapiski, Paris, 1937–38, with one chapter suppressed); first complete Russian book by the Chekhov Publishing House, New York, 1952. The true first English is the Putnam US edition, published May 27, 1963, preceding the UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition of November 8, 1963 by roughly five and a half months. Distinguish the 1952 Russian-language Chekhov House first book edition from the 1963 English first. Later Penguin and Vintage paperbacks are reprints.
• Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited — 1966 · G.P. Putnam's SonsFirst printing of the revised text; copyright page carries Library of Congress card number 66-23330 and no later-printing statement. Black cloth with blind-stamped 'VN' oval on the front cover, gilt spine lettering, and endpapers reproducing Nabokov's butterfly drawing and a map of the family lands. First-issue jacket carries the printed price. This is 'first thus' for the revised and expanded definitive text. The earliest form of the autobiography appeared in 1951, published in the US by Harper as 'Conclusive Evidence' and in the UK by Victor Gollancz as 'Speak, Memory.' The 1966 Putnam revision precedes the UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition. Book-club copies are blind-stamped and carry no price on the jacket.
• Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle — 1969 · McGraw-HillFirst printing has 'FIRST EDITION' stated on the copyright page together with the McGraw-Hill code 45720 and no later-printing notation. Black cloth with blind-debossed lettering on the front board, gilt spine, and the author-portrait jacket carrying the printed price. US McGraw-Hill (May 1969) is the true first; it precedes the UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition. Book-club copies are blind-stamped on the rear board and carry an unpriced jacket.

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