Vladimir Nabokov: A Pictorial Biography

by Ellendea Proffer (Editor)

Vladimir Nabokov. "A Pictorial Biography" contains more than 150 photographs, many of which are printed here for the first time, from the life of the remarkable twentieth-century author of "Lolita", "Pale Fire", "Pnin" and "The Gift". The photographs were selected from the Nabokov family archives in Montreaux and include family portraits a century old, intimate snapshots, and the work of world-famous photographers.

The book includes a chronology of the main events in Nabokov's life and an introduction to the photographs in this collection.

134 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Ellendea Proffer Teasley (born 1944) is an American author, publisher, and translator of Russian literature into English.

She received her Ph.d from Indiana University, taught at Wayne State University and University of Michigan, Dearborn. She is a well-known Bulgakov expert, translator and publisher. She is known for Mikhail Bulgakov: Life & Work (1984); translations of Bulgakov's plays and prose; numerous articles and introductions, most prominently the Notes and Afterword to the Burgin-O'Connor translation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.

She married Carl R. Proffer (1938–1984), and co-founded Ardis Publishers in 1971, a specializing in Russian literature, both in English and Russian. As a publisher, she was responsible for the collected works of Bulgakov in Russian, which then triggered a Soviet edition. Proffer Teasley edited a series of well-received photo-biographies, including those devoted to Nabokov, Tsvetaeva and Bulgakov.

Ellendea Proffer was on the first judges' panel for the Booker Russian Novel Prize, and in 1989 received a Macarthur Fellowship for her work with Ardis.

Carl Proffer's papers and the Ardis archives are held at University of Michigan. Ellendea Proffer Teasley donated a collection of manuscripts, typescripts, correspondences, books, photographs, and proofs, to the University of Michigan's Library.

In 2015, she published her memoir Brodsky Among Us with one of Russia's leading publishing houses, Corpus.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very strange to watch someone grow old in your hands over the course of half an hour. Highlights of the book = Dmitri age 20 in a Harvard sweater with his arm around old VN on the front lawn, Vera dressed as Rosie the Riveter on their great american road trip. Interesting hats throughout.