Nabokov’s disturbing novel about a paedophile’s exploitation of his orphaned step daughter, published by the Olympia Press in Paris, “an imprint specialising in what has been described as a list of pornographic trash”, but who were also responsible for publishing several of the most widely proclaimed novels of the twentieth century.
Lolita was initially rejected by all of the American publishers approached by Nabokov, fearing censorship and even imprisonment, fears that were somewhat vindicated by the subsequent prohibition of the book in both France and England. Ironically, it was never actually banned in the United States, appearing in 1958 when these fears had been assuaged somewhat by the passage of time. When the novel was republished, such a hype had been created surrounding it due to the controversy that it became the first book since Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind to sell more than 100,000 copies in its first three weeks.
A review published in the New York Times at the time of the 1958 publication puts this in somewhat bitter terms: “Certain books achieve a sort of underground reputation before they are published. […] And if their authors are really lucky some act of official censorship publicizes their work to the masses. “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov is such a book. Mr. Nabokov is particularly lucky because his book was not censored in the United States, but in France of all places.*”*
First issue, with “Francs: 900” to rear wrappers. A very good set, lightly worn wrappers, rubbing to spine and joints, with a little loss of colour in places, a little creasing to front and back wrappers, and subtle and expert repairs to wrappers of volume one.
