Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

In VN’s novel The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941) Sebastian Knight (who used to draw a black chess knight to sign his stories) dies in a sanatorium in St Damier (near Paris). As Sebastian's half-brother V. points out, damier is French for “chess board:”

In Canto One of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) describes his childhood and says that he was brought up by dear bizarre Aunt Maud:

In Canto One of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) describes his childhood and says that he was brought up by dear bizarre Aunt Maud:

The action in VN's novel Ada (1969) takes place on Demonia, Earth's twin planet also known as Antiterra. The Antiterran counterpart of the British Queen Victoria (1819-1901), King Victor (alias Mr Ritcov) is a frequent guest of Villa Venus (one hundred palatial brothels, or floramors, built by David van Veen, a wealthy architect of Flemish extraction, in memory of his grandson Eric):

Describing the library of Ardis Hall, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Albino Riots of 1835:

After taking Van from the Kalugano hospital (where he recovered from a wound received in a pistol duel with Captain Tapper, of Wild Violet Lodge), Cordula de Prey (a character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) tells Edmond (the driver of her car) to stop at Albion, le store pour messieurs, in Luga:

In his poem “Wanted” Humbert Humbert (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955) says that he is dying of hate and remorse:

Dying, dying, Lolita Haze,

Of hate and remorse, I'm dying.

And again my hairy fist I raise,

And again I hear you crying. (2.25)

After receiving an anonymous note, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) tears apart his best bow tie:

According to Humbert Humbert (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955), he offered Lolita (who preferred to Humbert's nonsense verse her teen-magazines) his genius:

The element that destroys Marina (in VN's novel Ada, 1969, Van's, Ada's and Lucette's mother who dies of cancer and whose body is burnt, according to her instructions) is fire:

Numbers and rows and series — the nightmare and malediction harrowing pure thought and pure time — seemed bent on mechanizing his mind. Three elements, fire, water, and air, destroyed, in that sequence, Marina, Lucette, and Demon. Terra waited.