Bend Sinister. New York, 1947

The first novel he composed in the United States, Bend Sinister is Nabokov's most overtly anti-fascist, anti-communist novel. He had envisioned it as early as 1942 under the title "The Person from Porlock"; later as "Game to Gunm[etal]"; and still later as "Solus Rex," or possibly "Vortex." He described it in broad strokes to friends in May 1946: "I propose to portray in this book certain subtle achievements of the mind in modern times against a dull-red background of nightmare oppression and persecution. The scholar, the poet, the scientist and the child - these are the victims and witnesses of a world that goes wrong in spite of its being graced with scholars, poets, scientists and children." The novel recounts the life of a philosopher, Adam Krug, blackmailed by an oppressive political regime into prostituting his talents. The tension within the novel is compounded as the protagonist gradually becomes aware of his status as a figment of Nabokov's imagination - "a device," Nabokov claimed, "never yet attempted in literature."

It took Nabokov four years to complete the manuscript, and Doubleday four months to decide that "novels about 'dictators' have no appeal at present, that the public wants 'escapist' books and that therefore [the] novel would come out at the 'wrong' moment." He rejected the firm's offer of a $1,000 advance and the half-hearted enthusiasm it reflected, and accepted a more appealing proposal from Allen Tate at Henry Holt, whose letters of praise were ultimately backed by an offer twice that size.

The items listed below pertain to Nabokov's life and career and are the contents of the exhibition at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, on view from April 23 through August 21, 1999. This checklist, primarily of items from the Library's Nabokov Archive, is included here to provide a sense of the rich holdings in this special collection.

Vladimir Nabokov
["Speak On, Memory"]
Holograph notes on index cards, ca. 1969
Berg Collection

Vladimir Nabokov
Bend Sinister
New York: Henry Holt, [1947]
Berg Collection

Allen Tate
Typed letter signed to Vladimir Nabokov
Henry Holt and Company, New York, December 13, 1946
Berg Collection

Jacket copy for Bend Sinister prepared by Henry Holt and Company
Typescript, [1947]
Berg Collection

Vladimir Nabokov
Autograph letter draft to Allen Tate
Pencil on card, [April 1947]
Berg Collection

Miscellaneous clippings
From an album kept by Véra Nabokov, 1947
Berg Collection