Lolita Nabokov, Vladimir Books into Film,Literature

First American edition, first printing. 319 pp. Bound in publisher's patterned paper-covered boards over black spine cloth titled in gilt, red topstain. Near Fine with toning to board edges. Erased inscription to front pastedown, light offsetting to half-title from slip previously laid in, light toning to contents. In a Near Fine price-clipped dust jacket with sunned spine panel and light toning. Uncommon with the jacket in this condition. A fantastic copy of Nabokov's misinterpreted masterpiece. The book was first published in Paris in 1955 and sparked such controversy that no American publisher would touch it for three years. Walter Minton at G. P. Putnam's Sons took the risk after reading the book in a single night, and the 1958 American edition was an instant bestseller. The fact that a New York Times critic described it as "repulsive, highbrow pornography" didn't hurt.