Vladimir Nabokov’s copy of 55 Short Stories from The New Yorker, 1949
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
The Principle of Editing
Well before his 1955 novel Lolita became a sensation, Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian exile, was a successful author looking to leave Europe to establish a career in the United States. It was in the pages of The New Yorker that he captivated an American audience. Nabokov famously hated to be edited but was able to work with a magazine committed to editorial perfection, thanks to the tremendous skill of Katharine White. Fiction editor from 1925 to 1960, White carefully shepherded dozens of Nabokov’s stories to print, building a lifelong friendship along the way. Despite their bond, the famously prickly Nabokov still lamented to White, “It is the principle itself of editing that distresses me.”
Learn more about Katharine White and Vladimir Nabokov from New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman in the audio guide.
: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Currently on View at Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
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