Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov

Reading notes

• To A. S. Suvorin, 26 December 1888. Moscow. §8 Yuzhin does it

  Alexander Ivanovich Yuzhin (stage name of Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov), invoked here purely as a stylistic byword for a certain sentimental, chivalrous manner of "hoisting a woman up by the shoulders" -- not a casting reference and unrelated to Yuzhin's separate appearance as a casting candidate for Sabinin in's headnote.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 28 October 1889. Moskva/. §4 Prince Sumbatov-Yuzhin earnestly begs you to answer his letter. He is putting on "Macbeth" for his benefit performance

  Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov (stage name Yuzhin), actor-playwright at the Maly Theatre, already established in this corpus (first attested). Here he is staging Shakespeare's "Macbeth" for his own benefit performance and wants Suvorin's guidance on the staging, relayed secondhand by Chekhov.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 20 November 1889. Moscow. §6 You promised Prince Sumbatov to send him several books or articles concerning "Macbeth."

  Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov (stage name Yuzhin), already established in this corpus (first attested), here relaying a request -- via Chekhov -- for Suvorin's promised bibliography on Shakespeare's "Macbeth", evidently in connection with a production or role Sumbatov was preparing.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 25 November 1889. Moscow. §7 To His Excellency

  Renders "Его сиятельству" (literally "To His Illustriousness/Serenity"), the honorific proper to a prince, reflecting Sumbatov's descent from the Georgian princely Sumbatashvili family. Used here in a mock-formal, affectionate register consistent with Chekhov's habitual teasing of Sumbatov rather than in earnest deference.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 14 December 1889. Moscow. §3 Dear Alexander Ivanovich

  Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov, stage name Yuzhin, actor-playwright at Moscow's Maly Theatre and a frequent Chekhov correspondent in this period; the warm, informal address matches their established close terms.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 27–28 December 1889. Moscow. §2 Dear Alexander Ivanovich

  Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov, stage name Yuzhin, actor-playwright at Moscow's Maly Theatre and a close friend of Chekhov's; the warm, informal address matches their established terms.

• To A. I. Smagin, 11 December 1891. Moscow. §6 Wherever did You get the idea that we have cooled toward Sumbatov?

  Prince Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov (stage name Yuzhin;), the Maly Theatre actor-playwright already established in the corpus since 1888; Smagin had apparently written suggesting the Chekhovs' enthusiasm for him had cooled, which Chekhov briskly denies here.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 10–11 March 1890. Moscow. §5 dear little prince

  Renders милый князюшка, an affectionate diminutive of князь ("prince") -- a teasing play on Sumbatov's actual princely descent from the Georgian Sumbatashvili family, in keeping with Chekhov's habitual warm, joking address to him.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 10–11 March 1890. Moscow. §10 To His Excellency

  Renders "Его сиятельству" (literally "To His Illustriousness/Serenity"), the honorific proper to a prince, reflecting Sumbatov's descent from the Georgian princely Sumbatashvili family. Used in the formal address-panel register the envelope requires, not as a shift from the letter's own affectionate, teasing tone.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 13 February 1891. Moscow. §3 keep two coupons for me -- the kind that ordinarily go for 1 ruble 10 kopecks each -- at the first booth.

  "Coupons" ("купоны") here almost certainly means resale theater tickets or vouchers, held at a resale/box-office booth for Chekhov to collect -- a small favor of the kind Chekhov and Sumbatov traded routinely as fellow theater habitués. The specified price, 1 ruble 10 kopecks apiece "in the ordinary way," implies these particular coupons are being obtained at a discount or through some house arrangement Sumbatov has access to via the Maly Theatre, rather than at the standard resale rate.

• To A. I. Sumbatov, 13 February 1891. Moscow. §5 Thank you for the trouble.

  A brief, businesslike thanks that closes the letter's practical content, presumably for the same coupon-holding favor described in \S3 rather than for any separate matter -- consistent with the terse, errand-only register of this note.

• Notebooks. Diaries §3556 Sumbatov, A. I.

  Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov (stage name Yuzhin), actor, playwright, and later director of the Maly Theatre; a friend Chekhov traveled with to Monte Carlo (\S4096).

• Notebooks. Diaries §4096 Sumbatov in Monte Carlo

  See the note at \S3556 -- the same Alexander Sumbatov (Yuzhin), here Chekhov's companion on a later visit to Monte Carlo.