DESPAIR [First UK edition - publisher's file copy]

Vladimir Nabokov

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1966

First impression of the first UK edition. A briefer version of this novel originally appeared in Playboy in the United States in 1965. Translated into English by the author, Vladimir Nabokov. Foreword by Vladimir Nabokov. Jacket design by George Mayhew. Weidenfeld Library file copy, with their red stamp to title-page (see scans). ***Despair is his seventh novel, originally published in Russian, serially in the politicized literary journal Sovremennye Zapiski during 1934, then published in book-form in 1936. Despair was translated to English by the author in 1937. Most copies of the 1937 English edition, published by John Long, were destroyed by the German bombs during World War II. ***Jacket design by George Mayhew. ***Near fine in dark brown cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to spine. Very small dent to front board, affecting first few pages. No inscriptions. Spine tight. ***In a very good colour printed dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, showing original publisher's price of 25s net. Publisher's file copy reference label removed from the lower spine of the dustwrapper, leaving a scuff patch. Extremities of dustwrapper slightly creased and rubbed. Rear panel of dustwrapper slightly rubbed (being white background). Spine and front panel of dustwrapper bright. ***204mm x 136mm. 222 pages. ***'Hermann, an apparently commonplace German chocolate manufacturer, lives in petit-bourgeois comfort in Berlin with his pleasing, but arrestingly stupid Russian wife, Lydia. Her drunken cousin, Ardalion, is their constant companion. One day, on a business trip to Prague, Hermann stumbles across a man he believes to be his double and starts plotting to turn this accidental encounter to his advantage. --- A murder story? A thriller? A mystery? A horror story? A study in alienation or the problems of identity? Despair is any and all of these. It is hard to compare the present text with the Russian versions of 1934 and 1936, the English version of 1937, or the French translation of 1939, as Nabokov has now recast Otchayanie. It also contains at least one scene which could not have been published before the retreat from rigid puritan standards which may be thought to have started with the publication of Lolita. But none of these points will strike the plain reader: the pace, the suspense, the wit, the macabre invention and the twists and turns of the plot will occupy all his attention from the first to the last page.' (Quote from inside front of dustwrapper blurb). ***First impression of the first UK edition, translated into English by Vladimir Nabokov, in its original dustwrapper in bright collectable condition. The publisher's file copy, and unique thus. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. Seller Inventory # 6392

Bibliographic Details

Title: DESPAIR [First UK edition - publisher's file...
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London
Publication Date: 1966
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: George Mayhew [Jacket design]
Condition: Near Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First UK Edition