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Nabokov, Vladimir (Author) & Boyd, Brian (Editor) : Ada Or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Transparent Things, Look At The Harlequins!: Novels 1969-1974

Library Of America, New York City, NY, 1996

ISBN 1883011205

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 830 pages. Retrospective collection of the author's "American" novels. The First Slipcased Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a Slipcased Edition for distribution to libraries and LOA subscribers only. None of the copies was sold to the public. The Slipcased Edition has the same ISBN as the regular trade edition. The Slipcased Edition is now rare. An austerely elegant production: Regular-sized volume format. Text by Vladimir Nabokov edited and annotated by Brian Boyd. Cream hard board slipcase. Printed to the highest standards on acid-free paper, utilizing sewn binding, closely woven rayon cloth boards, satin bound-in ribbon marker, and a page layout that is both readable and elegant. The book is guaranteed to last for several generations of readers and collectors (despite frequent and regular use, the estimated life span of Library of America Editions is 1000 years; un-used, they will last forever). Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in their definitive form, Vladimir Nabokov's "Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle", "Transparent Things", and "Look At The Harlequins!". His late-American novels, the third volume of the LOA three-volume set. The set is a major literary event: "Marks the first time the Library of America has offered works by a foreign-born author. Though a native of Russia, Nabokov easily could be considered an American by osmosis since he wrote many of his major works while living on American soil. Contains all his American fiction and nonfiction writings and incorporates the corrections the author added to his personal editions" (Publisher's blurb). These novels show Nabokov writing at the absolute top of his art until the end of his life, evoking "the Nabokovian experience of time, memory, passion, nature, loss, love in all its forms, and language in all its allusions". Nabokov's desire is the aesthete's desire, but only he has expressed it sublimely: "I trust the ravishing promises of the still breathing, still revolving verse, my face is wet with tears, my heart is bursting with happiness, and I know that this happiness is the greatest thing existing on earth" (Vladimir Nabokov). That is to say: For better or for worse, every true aesthete cares neither about means nor ends, only about effects. Happiness is not a state of mind, a feeling, or even a state of being. It is the effect of one's serendipitous and fateful encounter with beauty. An absolute "must-have" title for Vladimir Nabokov collectors. These titles are great books. This is one of few copies of the First Library of America Slipcased Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: The First Slipcased Edition was distributed to libraries and LOA subscribers only. None of the copies was sold to the public. A rare copy thus. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER VLADIMIR NABOKOV LIBRARY OF AMERICA TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1883011205.

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