I offer the following not to make any definite claims, but as intriguing to ponder…
Nabokov references Lolita and Pnin in Pale Fire. “Hurricane Lolita” sweeping the nation is a cagey and clever self-reference, but the appearance of Professor Pnin has struck me as a bit heavy handed – why introduce this character from another book who has no real purpose except to be a character from another book?
It occurred to me that maybe Nabokov has referenced his other works in the novel, as well, and “Lolita” and “Pnin” could only be referenced by their names, and therefore stand out. This would be consistent with his novel self-referencing later in LATH. I therefore made the following tally:
Mary (1) (Maryland)
KQK:
King (381 – including gerunds –king)
Queen (36)
Knave (2) Valet (3)
The Defense (1)
The Eye (75)
Glory (4)
LITD:
Laughter (6)
Dark (65)
Despair (4)
ITAB:
Invitation (3)
Beheading (0) Behead (1)
The Gift (11)
TRLSK:
Real (26 not counting found in other words, e.g. “reality”)
Life (89)
Sebastian (0)*
BS:
Bend (6 – including bending and bendlet)
Sinister (2)
Clearly some of these words (eye, dark, life) may be found abundantly in many works (whether Nabokov’s or others), but there does seem to me to be more of words like “glory”, “invitation” and “behead" than one might randomly expect.
*Notably missing is “Sebastian”. That made me remember that “Sebastian” was referenced obliquely in TRLSK through the painting of St. Sebastian by Bottecelli:
'And what shall I do now?' The stream of the biography on which I longed so to start, was, at one of its last bends, enshrouded in pale mist; like the valley I was contemplating. Could I leave it thus and write the book all the same? A book with a blind spot. An unfinished picture, uncoloured limbs of the martyr with the arrows in his side.” (my emphasis)
“it is the long-haired village prie[st. Sebastian] goes on reading to the girl beside him. The painter has not yet filled in the white space except for a thin sun burnt arm streaked from wrist to elbow along its outer side with glistening down.” (my parentheses and emphasis)
Curiously, these are not mentioned in DeVries and Johnson’s “Nabokov and the Art of Painting,” although Botticelli is noted as “a painter so admired by Nabokov that he is mentioned thrice in Look at the Harlequins, twice in Lolita, and once each in Laughter in the Dark and Bend Sinister.” In Pale Fire, Fleur is noted as suggesting “Flora” of Bottecelli’s Primavera.
The point of all this is that Nabokov was enamored of Bottecelli. “Bottecelli” is Italian for “shoemaker”, the same meaning as “bottekin” in Pale Fire.
Although the link may be tenuous to “Sebastian” in Pale Fire– Bottecelli is not mentioned by name in TRLSK (the subject of St. Sebastian was painted by others as well); The Birth of Venus and Primavera are the Bottecelli works most referenced by Nabokov; nothing direct in PF – it does seem possible. Extending the tenuousness a bit further, I offer:
Shoes are important in Pale Fire – Why? Here’s my tally:
Shoe (15)
Slipper (10)
Boot (6)
Sneaker (1)
Brogue (1)
Pumps (1)
Sandal (3)
(37 total)
My area of interest in Pale Fire has been Jungian influences, which include the many allusions in the novel to alchemy. One of the foremost alchemists was the 16th century Christian mystic and Neoplatonist, Jakob Böhme, known as “The Shoemaker”. Böhme continued in this humble profession throughout his life and writings.
Aside from references to Jung, Nabokov suggests alchemy as the transmutation of art and he often mentioned “conjurers” and “magicians,” implying the tradition of alchemists as sorcerers, for the creative act as well as, frequently, for himself. Perhaps this suggests the enigmatic Professor Botkin (as stand-in for Nabokov) is the creative force behind the novel of Pale Fire.