JM: Before almost drowning in quagmiroptics,
I thought that C.Kinbote's commentary, to Shade's "Chapman's Homer," only
pointed at a funny misprint,* a "drolly transposition," nstead of
presenting another instance of anamorphism. If the newspaper headlines
were not in capital letters most readers would distinguish
between the double meaning of "Chapman's Homer" and "Chapman's homer."
I wonder now if Nabokov (but not Kinbote...) was exploiting his
(pre-google) wide scholarship to add another indication related
to another kind of "anamorphism," namely George
Chapman's verses about this same subject: This would result
from "a devilish joke" - indeed!
"..a Picture wrougbt to opticke reason,
That to all passers by,
seemes as they move,
Now a woman, now a Monster, now a Divell,
And till
you stand, and in a right line view it,
You cannot well judge what the maine
forme is."
George Chapman, Chabot 1.1 68-72
In addition, John Keats's sonnet about the golden wonders of Chapman's
translation of Homer, might indirectly suggest the dangers
of "anamorphic translations." Iin my opinion, Nabokov wouldn't be
in favor of that which George Steiner described (I forgot under what
technical designation) as a translator's too clever appropriation of
another author's poem.
................................................................................................................
John Shade: "A curio: Red Sox Beat Yanks 5-4/
On Chapman's Homer, thumbtacked to the door."
CK's commentary to
line 98: "A reference to the title of Keats'
famous sonnet (often quoted in America) which, owing to a printer's
absent-mindedness, has been drolly transposed, from some other article,
into the account of a sports event.