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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Walter Campbell in PF
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:45:24 -0800
From: Matthew Roth <mroth@MESSIAH.EDU>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU


Has it been noted that Walter Campbell, Kinbote's tutor, has a counterpart
in real life? In PF (C70) we see Mr. Campbell teaching "several dutiful
little princesses to spread butterflies," etc. Wikipedia gives us the
following:

"Robert Walter Campbell Shelford (3 August 1872 – 22 June 1912), was a
British museum administrator and naturalist, with a special interest in
entomology and insect mimicry. He was born in Singapore and educated at
King’s College, London, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was Curator of
the Sarawak Museum at Kuching, Sarawak, from 1897 to 1905, after which he
was Assistant Curator at the Oxford University Museum. Shelford married in
1908, only four years before his death at the age of 39 in Margate. Plants
named after him include Dischidia shelfordii Pears."

Given the entomological reference in PF, plus VN's self-professed
fascination with insect mimicry, I don't imagine this is a coincidence. I
looked in the archive and didn't see any mention of this, but apologies if
it's all been said before.

Matt Roth

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