Vladimir Nabokov

Abbreviations and Preferred Editions

By Brian Boyd, University of Auckland, b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz

 

Books are by Vladimir Nabokov unless otherwise noted. Dates of first publication (and, where relevant, Russian titles) are also given if different from preferred editions. = means more readily available edition with same pagination. 

 

The Vintage International editions are the preferred editions for citation in English, the Simpozium (or the first editions) in Russian. In most cases the Vintage editions retain the pagination of the first edition (an asterisk indicates where pagination is different), and they are not only in print but also incorporate corrections noted by Vladimir, Véra, and Dmitri Nabokov, Elena Sikorski, Brian Boyd, and Stephen Jan Parker.

Unlike the abbreviations below, initials in the form [AA] in the website identify contributors, whose names are given in full on the About page.

 

Ada                  Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. 1969; New York: Vintage, 1990.

BB                   Brian Boyd

BS                   Bend Sinister. 1947; New York: Vintage, 1990.*

CE                   Conclusive Evidence. New York: Harper & Bros, 1951. [Revised ed. as SM]

DB                   Drugie berega. New York: Chekhov Publishing House, 1954. [Trans. of CE]. [ = Ardis, 1978].

DBDV              Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Nabokov-Wilson Letters, 1940–1971, ed. Simon Karlinsky.  1979; rev. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001.

Defense          The Defense, trans. Michael Scammell with VN. [Zashchita Luzhina, 1930]. 1964; New York: Vintage, 1990.

Despair           Despair, trans. VN. [Otchayanie 1936]. 1966; New York: Vintage, 1989.

DN                   Dmitri Nabokov (son)

EN                   Elena Nabokov (mother)

Ench               The Enchanter, trans. DN. [Volshebnik, 1991]. 1986; New York: Vintage 1991.

EO                  Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, trans. with commentary by VN. 1964; rev. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975. 4 vols.

Eye                 The Eye, trans. DN with VN. [Soglyadatay, 1930]. 1965; New York: Vintage, 1990.

Gift                 The Gift, trans. Michael Scammell with VN. [Dar 1937-38, 1952]. 1963; New York: Vintage, 1991.*

Glory              Glory, trans. DN with VN. [Podvig 1932]. 1971; New York: Vintage, 1991.

HNA               Dmitri Nabokov Archive, Houghton Library, Harvard University

IB                    Invitation to a Beheading, trans. DN with VN. [Priglashenie na kazn’, 1938]. 1959; New York: Vintage, 1989.

Juliar NB         Michael Juliar. Nabokov Bibliography: All About Vladimir Nabokov in Print. http://vnbiblio.com/      

Juliar 1986      Michael Juliar. Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1986.

KO                  Kamera obskura. Berlin: Sovremennye zapiski and Parabola, 1933.

KQK               King, Queen, Knave, trans. DN and VN. [Korol’, dama, valet, 1928] 1968; New York: Vintage, 1989.

LATH              Look at the Harlequins! 1974; New York: Vintage, 1990.

LCNA              Vladimir Nabokov Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

LD                   Laughter in the Dark. [Kamera obskura, 1933]. New York: Vintage, 1989.

LDQ                Lectures on Don Quixote, ed. Fredson Bowers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich/Bruccoli Clark, 1983.

LL                   Lectures on Literature, ed. Fredson Bowers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich/Bruccoli Clark, 1980.

LoA                Library of America editions of English novels and memoirs, 3 vols., ed. BB. New York: Library of America. Volumes as LoA I, LoA II, LoA III.

Lolita             Lolita. 1955; New York: Vintage, 1989.* [Pagination = 1958 US edition – 2]

LoRuss          Lolita, trans. into Russian VN. New York: Phaedra, 1967.

LRL                Lectures on Russian Literature, ed. Fredson Bowers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich/Bruccoli Clark, 1981.

LS                   Lolita: A Screenplay. 1974; New York: Vintage, 1997.

LTV                 Letters to Véra, ed. and trans. Olga Voronina and BB. 2014; New York: Vintage, 2017.

Mary               Mary, trans. Michael Glenny with VN. [Mashen’ka, 1926]. 1970; New York: Vintage, 1989.

MCZ               Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

MUSSR          The Man from the USSR and Other Plays, trans. and ed. DN. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.

NG                  Nikolai Gogol. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.

N’sBs              Nabokov’s Butterflies, ed. Brian Boyd and Robert Michael Pyle. Boston: Beacon, 1999.

PF                   Pale Fire. 1962; New York: Vintage, 1989.

Pléiade            Pléiade editions of novels and memoirs, ed. Maurice Couturier. Paris: Gallimard, I: 1999; II: 2010; III: forthcoming.

Pnin                 Pnin. 1957; New York: Vintage, 1989.

PP                   Poems and Problems. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

RLSK             The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. 1941; New York: Vintage, 1992.

Rowohlt          Vladimir Nabokov, Gesammelte Werke, 24 vols., ed. Dieter E. Zimmer. Rheinbek bei Hamburg: 1989-2018/

Schiff              Stacy Schiff, Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov). New York: Random House, 1999.

SIC                 Song of Igor's Campaign, trans with commentary VN. New York: Vintage, 1960.

Simp               Vladimir Nabokov, Sobranie sochineniy [Collected Works]. St. Petersburg: Simpozium, 1999. 10 vols.

SL                   Selected Letters 1940-1971, ed. DN and Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich/Bruccoli Clark, 1989.

SM                  Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited. 1951, rev. 1967. New York: Vintage, 1989.

SO                  Strong Opinions. 1973; New York: Vintage, 1990.

Sog                 Soglyadatay. Paris: Russkie zapiski, 1938. [ = Ardis 1978].

SoVN              Stories of Vladimir Nabokov, ed. DN. 1995; rev. 17th (or later) printing, New York: Vintage, 2008. 691 pp. (includes "Natasha")

SP                   Selected Poems, ed. Thomas Karshan. (= Collected Poems, UK)

Stikhi              Stikhi. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, 1979.

TGM               Tragediya gospodina Morna, P’esy, Lektsii o drame. Moscow: Azbuka, 2008.

TMM              Tragedy of Mister Morn, trans. Anastasia Tolstoy and Thomas Karshan. New York: Vintage, 2013.

TOOL            The Original of Laura. New York: Knopf, 2008.

TT                  Transparent Things. 1972; New York: Vintage, 1989.

TWS             Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor, ed. BB and Anastasia Tolstoy. New York: Knopf, and London: Penguin, 2019

V&V                Verses and Versions: Three Centuries of Russian Poetry, trans. VN, ed. BB and Stanislav Shvabrin, 2008.

VC                  Vozvraschenie Chorba. Berlin: Slovo, 1929. [ = Ardis, 1976]

VF                  Vesna v Fial’te. New York: Chekhov Publishing House, 1956. [ = Ardis,1978]

VéN                 Véra Nabokov

VDN                Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (father)

VN                   Vladimir Nabokov

VNA                 Vladimir Nabokov Archive, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection, New York Public Library

VNAY              BB, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.

VNRG             BB, Vladimir Nabokov: Russkie gody. St. Petersburg, 2001. [Revisions to VNRY]

VNRY              BB, Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

WI                   The Waltz Invention, trans. VN. [Izobretenie Val’sa, 1938]. New York: Phaedra, 1966.