$12,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Auction: February 18, 2021 10:00:00 AM EDT
London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, (1969). First English edition. 8vo. (xiv), 589 pp. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed with a butterfly drawing to Vera Nabokov's close cousin, Anya Feigin, dated October, 1970. Original red cloth, stamped in gilt; in original unclipped olive green dust-jacket. Nabokov, an accomplished lepidopterist, only included butterfly drawings in books inscribed to those especially important to him. The closer the connection, the more elaborate the drawing. Field 0885.
Upon their move to Berlin, after their exile from the Soviet Union, the Nabokovs moved in with Vera's cousin, Anya Feigin. Later, after her husband's death, Anya lived alone in New York City, but due to her deteriorating health, Vera had her flown to their home in Montreaux, Switzerland, to ensure that she was cared for. The Nabokovs set her up in a home near their apartment in The Palace Hotel, and for the remaining 18 months of her life they visited her multiple times a week. A warm association.