The Wizard

This edition consists of the last two major works by Vladimir Nabokov from his European period, written in Paris before his departure to America in 1940. Both had a decisive influence on all of the writer's subsequent English-language work. The story "The Wizard" from 1939 is Nabokov's first attempt to present the theme of "Lolita," while the novel "Solus Rex" from 1940 is a precursor to the concept of "Pale Fire." Regretting the incompleteness of "Solus Rex," Nabokov noted that "in its color, stylistic scope and abundance, and something indefinable in its powerful deep flow, it promised to differ markedly from all my other Russian writings." An excerpt from the archival typescript of "Solus Rex," excluded from the Paris magazine publication, is included in the Appendix.