In my yesterday's post on alphabetic games in
Ada I forgot to mention Jules Landau, le clair-voyant in
Tolstoy's Anna Karenin (Part Seven, XX-XXII). Incidentally, he was
modeled after Daniel Home, the famous medium mentioned in Speak,
Memory (p. 115). Aldanov (Mark Aleksandrovich Landau) is also
mentioned in VN's memoirs (p. 220).
Mesmer +
Aldanov + e = Esmeralda + venom (Franz Mesmer is an Austrian
physician, 1733-1815)
Alexey Sklyarenko