Antosha Chekhonte

Reading notes

• Philosophical Definitions of Life §19 Antosha Chekhonte

  The pen name young Anton Chekhov used throughout the early 1880s for his comic squibs and sketches in the humor magazines, before he began publishing serious work under his own name.

• The Ideal Examination §77 A. Chekhonte

  The pen name young Anton Chekhov used for comic squibs in the early 1880s; the sketch closes with this self-deprecating unmasking of its own author.

• The Alarm Clock's Calendar §67 Antosha Chekhonte

  The young Chekhov's best-known early pseudonym, under which almost all his 1880s comic journalism (including this calendar) first appeared.

• Comic Advertisements and Notices §1 Antosha Chekhonte

  The pen name the twenty-year-old Chekhov used for his earliest comic squibs, before adopting the fuller signature he would keep for years.

• The Flying Islands, by Jules Verne, Translated by A. Chekhonte §2 A. CHEKHONTE

  The young Chekhov's comic pen name, under which he published his earliest humorous sketches in the popular press.

• My Wives §24 A. Chekhonte

  Chekhov's own early pen name, here inserted as a mock-official "ratifying" signature beneath the fictional Raoul Bluebeard's letter -- a wink at the reader that breaks the parody's fourth wall.

• To N. A. Leikin, 28 January 1886. Moscow. §7 "Stories by A. Chekhonte"

  Chekhov's principal comic pen name, under which nearly all his early sketches for the humor press had appeared. Using it as a candidate book title would have signaled the collection as more of the same brand of magazine comedy, as opposed to a title (like the alternative Leikin favored) that might read as more literary or dignified.

• To N. A. Leikin, 3 February 1886. Moscow. §6 A. Chekhonte

  Chekhov's principal comic pen name of the early 1880s, under which nearly all his sketches for the humor press had appeared; confirming here that his first book will carry "A. Chekhonte," not his own name, settles a question that had been open since the collection was first proposed.

• To F. O. Shekhtel, 8–9 February 1886. Moscow. §4 Motley Stories. By A. Chekhonte.

  The settled title of Chekhov's first story collection, "Pestrye rasskazy" (Motley/Variegated Stories), published later in 1886 under his comic pen name Antosha Chekhonte. Earlier letters from January show Chekhov and his circle still weighing alternative titles ("Stories by A. Chekhonte," "Trifles"); here the question is settled and stated flatly, with the mock-terse "No more, no less."

• To A. S. Suvorin, 21 February 1886. Moscow. §7 The pseudonym A. Chekhonte

  Chekhov explains, for a new and important correspondent, the origin of the pen name he had used since his student years for comic pieces in the humor weeklies -- "Antosha Chekhonte" began as a schoolboy nickname given him by a priest. Within a few years of this letter Chekhov would largely retire the pseudonym in favor of his own name, a shift Suvorin's patronage helped accelerate.

• To D. V. Grigorovich, 28 March 1886. Moscow. §9 To put my real name on the book is now impossible

  The book in question is Chekhov's first story collection, "Motley Stories" (Пестрые рассказы), then in press under the pseudonym A. Chekhonte. Grigorovich's letter (and this reply) mark the beginning of Chekhov's move away from the pseudonym: within days he would write to his editor Leikin asking that "A. P. Chekhov" be added in parentheses alongside "A. Chekhonte" wherever still possible, and within a couple of years he would retire the pen name for serious work altogether.

• To G. P. Kravtsov, 29 January 1883. Moscow. §13 A. Chekhonte

  "Antosha Chekhonte," the pen name Chekhov used through the early 1880s for the comic sketches and captions he placed in the Moscow and Petersburg humor weeklies.

• To I. I. Babakin, 1883. Voskresensk. §3 A. Chekhonte

  The comic pen name young Chekhov used throughout the early 1880s, here signing off a two-line note to a household acquaintance.

• To M. M. Dyukovsky, 24–25 August 1883. Moscow. §4 A. Chekhonte

  The comic pen name -- a nickname from Chekhov's old Taganrog gymnasium days -- under which he signed most of his early humorous work of the early 1880s.

• To M. M. Dyukovsky, 2–3 May 1884. Moscow. §5 A. Chekhonte

  The comic pen name -- a nickname from Chekhov's old Taganrog gymnasium days -- under which he signed most of his early humorous work of the early 1880s.

• To M. P. Chekhova, 3 September 1884. Voskresensk. §8 Votre A. Чехонте

  Chekhov signs off with a mock-formal French "Votre" ("Yours") followed by his familiar comic pen name, the register-clash itself part of the joke.

• To P. A. Sergeyenko, 17 December 1884. Moscow. §5 Uncle

  "Dyadenka" (Uncle) was one of the many comic pseudonyms Chekhov used for humor-magazine pieces in the early 1880s, distinct from his main pen name Antosha Chekhonte.

• To M. P. Chekhova, 20 April 1887. Zverevo. §7 A. Chekhonte

  Chekhov signs with his early comic pen name, "Antosha Chekhonte," which he still used for humor-magazine work in this period rather than his own name.

• To N. A. Leikin, 27 March 1889. Moscow. §7 The pseudonym "A. Chekhonte" has been abolished by me

  Chekhov's own early pen name, here self-referentially retired by its bearer -- a piece of authorial wordplay (Chekhov writing about "A. Chekhonte" in the third person as a persona he is discarding). Linked to the existing pseudonym entity, distinct from but closely tied to; not treated as a separate new entity.