INVITATION TO A BEHEADING [First American paperback - CAP GIANT 255]

Vladimir Nabokov

Published by Capricorn Books, New York, 1965

About this Item

First printing of the first American paperback edition - a Capricorn Giant. Translated into English by the author's son Dmitri Nabokov, in collaboration with the author. Foreword by Vladimir Nabokov dated June 25, 1959 - Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona. The book was first published in the USA by Putnam, New York in 1959, and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1960. ***Very good in printed card covers with black and red titles to the spine, with the publisher's printed price of $1.65 on the back cover. The red titles have faded. The covers have some marks and creasing commensurate with age and handling [see scans]. Some wear and tear to the top of the spine, and some creasing to the corners. Spine tight. Edges of page block nice and clean. No internal inscriptions. Pages clean and unmarked, but there is some creasing to the lower corners of the first and last few pages. ***204mm x 130mm. 223 pages. ***'During the years he spent in Germany and France prior to his coming to the United States, Mr. Nabokov wrote a series of novels in Russian--among the finest ever written in that language--which were largely published in Berlin and Paris under the pseudonym of Sirin. "Invitation to a Beheading", first published serially in a Russian émigré magazine, was the first of these novels to be translated into English. The translation, the result of a collaboration between the author and his son Dmitri, demonstrates to American readers that this book--hailed as a farce, an allegory and a specific study of terrorism--is, however classified, a masterpiece of prose writing.' (Quote taken from the back cover). ***First printing of the first American paperback edition, translated into English by Dmitri Nabokov. It's quite unusual to find copies of this American paperback edition in the UK. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

Seller Inventory # PB309

Bibliographic Details

• Title: INVITATION TO A BEHEADING [First American paperback - CAP GIANT 255]
• Publisher: Capricorn Books, New York
• Publication Date: 1965
• Binding: Original Wraps
• Edition: First US Paperback Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket, as Issued
• Seller catalogs:
  • Collectable Paperbacks
  • A001 - First Editions
  • A002 - Literature