JANSY: Now I must make a "mea culpa" to Jim Twiggs. I was certain that Nabokov couldn't have been acquainted with the story concerning Wittels's Irma, and still have written "Lolita" since, in the background, there's a very sick mind intent on using and tormenting a real child.
No apology needed (of course), but I'm pleased to have Jansy's new thoughts on the matter.
Although I presented the Kraus-Wittels story only as paralleling Lolita in certain very limited respects, and not as an influence or even a source, it's worth noting that the question of sources has been brought up a couple of times in the TLS--most recently in 2005 by Alexander Dolinin in his essay on the Sally Horner case. I haven't checked, but I seem to remember that this essay was discussed on the List at the time it was published. Here's the link for those who have access to the TLS archives:
Commentary_Archive/article6759012.ece
Besides this fascinating essay, the TLS
published a letter on possible Lolita sources on November 27, 1998: