Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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| - | '''''Lolita''''' ([[1955]]) is a [[novel]] by [[Vladimir Nabokov]]. The novel was first written in English and published in [[1955]] in [[Paris]] by [[Olympia Press]], later translated by the author into Russian and published in [[1958]] in [[New York]]. The novel is both internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the book's [[narrator]] and protagonist Humbert Humbert becoming [[Ephebophilia |sexually obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl]] named Dolores Haze. | + | '''Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd''' (often shortened to '''W&N''' or '''Weidenfeld''') is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It is a division of the [[Orion Publishing Group]]. |
| - | After its publication, the novel attained a [[classic]] status, becoming one of the best known and most controversial examples of [[20th century literature]]. The name "Lolita" has entered [[pop culture]] to describe a sexually [[precocious]] [[young girl]]. | + | ==History== |
| + | Founded in the late 1940s by [[George Weidenfeld]] and [[Nigel Nicolson]], Weidenfeld & Nicolson established a solid reputation by publishing controversial landmark titles like [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s ''[[Lolita]]'' (1959) and ''[[Portrait of a Marriage]]'' (1973), Nicolson's biography of his mother, [[Vita Sackville-West]]. In its early years Weidenfeld also published nonfiction works by, among others, [[Isaiah Berlin]], [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]], and [[Rose Macaulay]], and novels by [[Mary McCarthy]] and [[Saul Bellow]]. This was followed in subsequent years by a host of titles by world leaders and historians, along with contemporary fiction and glossy illustrated books. | ||
| - | The novel was adapted to film twice, once [[Lolita (1962 film)|in 1962]] by [[Stanley Kubrick]] starring [[James Mason]] as Humbert Humbert, and again [[Lolita (1997 film)|in 1997]] by [[Adrian Lyne]], starring [[Jeremy Irons]]. | + | Weidenfeld was one of Orion's first acquisitions after the group's founding in 1991, and formed the core of its offerings. Weidenfeld imprints originally included [[J. M. Dent]] and [[Everyman's Library|Everyman Paperbacks]], and have expanded greatly since the Orion acquisition and Orion's acquisition in turn by [[Hachette Livre]] in 1998. |
| - | ==Publication and reception== | + | |
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| - | Due to its [[subject matter]], Nabokov was unable to find an [[United States|American]] [[publisher]] for ''Lolita''. After four refused, he finally resorted to the ''[[Olympia Press]]'' in [[Paris]], September 1955. Although the first printing of 5,000 copies sold out, there were no substantial [[review]]s. Eventually, at the end of 1955, [[Graham Greene]], in an [[interview]] with the (London) ''[[Times]],'' called it one of the best [[novel]]s of 1955. This statement provoked a response from the ([[London]]) ''[[Daily Express#Sunday_Express|Sunday Express]]'', whose [[editor]] called it "the filthiest book I have ever read" and "sheer unrestrained pornography." [[Her Majesty's Customs and Excise|British Customs]] officers were then instructed by a panicked [[Home Office]] to seize all copies entering the [[United Kingdom]]. In December 1956 the [[France|French]] followed suit and the [[Minister of the Interior]] banned ''Lolita'' (the ban lasted for two years). Its eventual [[United Kingdom|British]] publication by [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] caused a scandal which contributed to the end of the political career of one of the publishers, [[Nigel Nicolson]]. | + | |
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| - | By complete contrast, American officials were initially nervous, but the first American edition was issued without problems by [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] in 1958, and was a [[bestseller]], the first book since ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'' to sell 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of [[publication]]. | + | |
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| - | Today, it is considered by many to be one of the finest novels written in the 20th century. In 1998, it was named the fourth greatest [[English language]] novel of the 20th century by the [[Modern Library]]. [[Nabokov]] rated the book highly himself. In an interview for [[BBC Television]] in 1962 he said, | + | |
| - | <blockquote> | + | |
| - | ''Lolita '' is a special favourite of mine. It was my most difficult book — the book that treated of a theme which was so distant, so remote, from my own emotional life that it gave me a special pleasure to use my combinational talent to make it real. | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
| - | Two years later, in 1964's interview for ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'', he said, | + | |
| - | <blockquote> | + | |
| - | I shall never regret ''Lolita''. She was like the composition of a beautiful puzzle —its composition and its solution at the same time, since one is a mirror view of the other, depending on the way you look. Of course she completely eclipsed my other works —at least those I wrote in [[English language|English]]: ''[[The Real Life of Sebastian Knight]]'', ''[[Bend Sinister]]'', my short stories, my book of recollections; but I cannot grudge her this. There is a queer, tender charm about that mythical | + | |
| - | [[nymphet]]. | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | At the same year, in the interview for ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', Nabokov was asked, "Which of your writings has pleased you most?" He answered, | + | |
| - | <blockquote> | + | |
| - | I would say that of all my books ''Lolita'' has left me with the most pleasurable afterglow —perhaps because it is the purest of all, the most abstract and carefully contrived. I am probably responsible for the odd fact that people don't seem to name their daughters Lolita any more. I have heard of young female [[poodle]]s being given that name since 1956, but of no human beings. | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
| - | ==Nabokov's afterword== | + | |
| - | In [[1956]], Nabokov penned an [[afterword]] to ''Lolita'' ("[[On a Book Entitled Lolita]]") that was included in every subsequent edition of the book. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | == See also == | + | |
| - | *[[Nymphet]] | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | [[Category:Icons of erotic art]] | + | |
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Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld) is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It is a division of the Orion Publishing Group.
[edit]
History
Founded in the late 1940s by George Weidenfeld and Nigel Nicolson, Weidenfeld & Nicolson established a solid reputation by publishing controversial landmark titles like Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (1959) and Portrait of a Marriage (1973), Nicolson's biography of his mother, Vita Sackville-West. In its early years Weidenfeld also published nonfiction works by, among others, Isaiah Berlin, Hugh Trevor-Roper, and Rose Macaulay, and novels by Mary McCarthy and Saul Bellow. This was followed in subsequent years by a host of titles by world leaders and historians, along with contemporary fiction and glossy illustrated books.
Weidenfeld was one of Orion's first acquisitions after the group's founding in 1991, and formed the core of its offerings. Weidenfeld imprints originally included J. M. Dent and Everyman Paperbacks, and have expanded greatly since the Orion acquisition and Orion's acquisition in turn by Hachette Livre in 1998.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Weidenfeld & Nicolson" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
