In honor of the recent publication (by Knopf) of the manuscript of Vladimir Nabokov’s unfinished final work, “The Original of Laura,” John Gall, art director for Vintage, recently commissioned new covers for some of the author and former Cornell professor’s best-known books.
 
The result: new jacket designs, online at designobserver.com, for 21 Nabokov titles, including “Lolita,” “Pale Fire” and “Pnin.”
 
The designs, which range from Peter Mendelsund’s colorfully patterned “King, Queen, Knave” to Martin Venezky’s grim, black “Glory,” are all built on an image of a specimen box, in deference to Nabokov’s passion for collecting butterflies.
 
The new versions will take their place on bookstore shelves in the coming months.
 
Nabokov taught literature at Cornell from 1948 to 1959, when he moved to Switzerland with his family following the success of his 1955 novel “Lolita.”
 
- Lauren Gold