Published by Picador, London; 1987. 127pp. 8vo. First UK Edition, first impression. Condition: Fine/Fine.
Bound in original black cloth with title in silver to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in practically perfect condition, with just the slightest hint of bumping to the spine ends and corners. Inside, the pages are clean and bright and free from damage or marks save a slight touch of toning to the edges, it otherwise appears barely read.
The book is housed in its original dust jacket, in smart condition, the jacket painting by F. Vallatton as bright and vibrant as the day it was printed. There are no marks or signs of wear to note.
Overall, this is a beautiful example of this British first edition of Nabokov's long lost novel. This work constitutes the 'first little throb' of a fascination with tormented compulsion that Nabokov developed further in Lolita. Paris, 1939. Vladimir Nabokov's imagination is titillated by a newspaper report of an ape coached by scientists into drawing the first ever picture by a captive animal: he draws the bars of his cage. In the ensuing months, Nabokov translates the notion into a study of the terrible cage that madness can be, and then tries to view it through the eyes of a madman. The result is The Enchanter. Nabokov himself mislaid the manuscript for this novel, with it only being found 10 years after his death by his son, Dmitri Nabokov. No Nabokov collection would be complete without the addition of this novel.