21: Homme d’affaires – The French term for businessman.

21: Plage – French word for beach.

21: Pushkin – Arguably the most famous Russian poet, Aleksandr Pushkin lived from 1799 – 1837 and had an enormous influence on Russian culture. He is known as the “father of Russian Literature”. Nabokov translated and annotated Pushkin’s epic poem Eugene Onegin.

21: Lermontov – Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841) was a Russian Romantic poet and writer who also was highly influential in Russian literature. He allegedly created the tradition of Russian “psychological” novels. Nabokov also translated and annotated Lermontov’s Hero of Our Times.

22: Eucalypt – The name for a type of plant/tree originating in Australia. When teaching at Stanford Nabokov would often walk through the eucalyptus groves on campus.

22: Wells – H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was an English author best known for his science fiction writing. He wrote many novels, including War of the Worlds, as well as short stories.

22: Mr. Snooks – A character in the short story “Miss Winchelsea’s Heart” by H.G. Wells, first published in 1898.

22: The Passionate Friends – a full-length novel by H.G. Wells, written in 1913.

22: Housman– A.E. Housman (1859-1936) was a scholarly English poet. His poetry was very popular in late Victorian/Early Edwardian times, about ten years before Iris and Vadim meet.

23: Famous and free author – A theme Nabokov writes about often (In The Gift, for example), and a goal he spent a long time achieving. By the time he wrote LATH (1974), it could be argued that Nabokov was finally, thanks to his money and critical acclaim, “famous and free”.

23: Tolstoy – Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is the Russian author most famous for writing Anna Karenina and War and Peace in addition to many short stories, plays, and essays.

24: Marevo – a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

24: Pathological indifference – Nabokov prided himself on the indifference he felt for any “obligations” he held towards his readers.

24: Tauchnitz – A German printing/publishing company, begun in 1796, that published authors such as Charles Dickens and Robert Browning.

25: Nenuphar – Water lily or lotus. The nenuphar’s latin name is, interestingly, Nymphaea alba.

26: Ardis – A self-reference to Ardis Hall, where Van Veen and Ada’s romance is realized in Ada, or Ardor. Ardis was also the publishing house established by Carl and Ellendea Proffer that would re-publish many of Nabokov’s Russian novels.