Korol', Dama, Valet'. [King, Queen, Knave].

rare first edition of Nabokov's second novel

Nabokov declared in the foreword of the 1967 English translation of King, Queen, Knave, 'of all my novels this bright brute is the gayest. Expatriation, destitution, nostalgia had no effect on its elaborate and rapturous composition'. The novel is set in Berlin and is centred around the love triangle of a young German man Franz, his uncle Dreyer and Dreyer's wife Martha.

The author would later study his American compatriots in detail but it was not the case for his representation of German characters in his writing. Despite having lived in Berlin for a number of years he 'spoke no German, had no German friends, had not read a single German novel either in the original or in the translation'. However, he believed that 'in art, as in nature, a glaring disadvantage may turn out to be a subtle protective device'.

All of Nabokov's works were banned by Soviet Russia following his fleeing the country in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution. For decades, Soviet citizens could not legally purchase, print, or possess Korol', Dama, Valet or any of his other works. Despite the strict ban, copies of his books were regularly smuggled into the USSR and passed around illegally as underground, self-published texts. The total ban on his literature was finally lifted in the mid-1980s under Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of Glasnost (openness).

First edition; small 8vo (20.5 x 14.5); 259pp., iii, ink ownership inscription to upper flyleaf, slight age toning but very fresh internally; original grey wrappers printed in blue and red, spine toned, some slight wear but otherwise a near-fine copy.