Oskolki

Reading notes

• Poems and Dubia (school-age and disputed juvenilia) §560 SPLINTERS

  English rendering of Oskolki ("Splinters" or "Fragments"), the Petersburg humor weekly Chekhov wrote for extensively in the early-to-mid 1880s under Nikolai Leikin's editorship.

• Buckwheat Porridge Praises Itself §2 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"/"Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly for which the young Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte. This piece is a mock-etymological squib on the journal's own name and mascot letters.

• The Competition §1 Oskolki

  "Splinters" -- the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly for which the young Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte; this whole piece is a parody of the kind of mock announcement a humor magazine like Oskolki might actually run.

• To N. A. Leikin, 22 March 1885. Moscow. §8 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), Leikin's Petersburg humor weekly, for which Chekhov was a leading contributor at this period; the letter's central business is prodding Leikin to improve its weak art department.

• To N. A. Leikin, 28 April 1885. Moscow. §6 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), Leikin's Petersburg humor weekly and Chekhov's primary outlet at this period; he reassures Leikin he won't divert his better material -- what's "fit for Oskolki" -- to the rival Budilnik.

• To N. A. Leikin, 5 January 1886. Moscow. §7 the special-post column

  "Pochta" (the "post" or "mailbag") was a recurring miscellany column in the Petersburg humor weekly Oskolki (Fragments), where the editors answered fictitious or composite reader letters with short comic quips. Chekhov and other staff writers supplied unsigned or pseudonymously signed items for it as part of the magazine's regular workload.

• To V. V. Bilibin, 1 February 1886. Moscow. §6 the 'Fragments'

  Oskolki ("Splinters" or "Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Nikolai Leikin, for which both Chekhov and Bilibin wrote; Palmin's mock-solemn warning that the magazine will "corrupt" Bilibin plays on its reputation as light, disposable comic fare beneath a serious literary talent.

• To I. P. Chekhov, 28 April 1886. Petersburg. §6 the "Oskolki" premiums

  "Premiums" (premii) were supplementary items -- prints, almanacs, or similar extras -- that the Petersburg humor weekly Oskolki distributed to subscribers, which Chekhov as a staff contributor had access to send along to family.

• To I. P. Chekhov, 28 April 1886. Petersburg. §6 Troitsky Lane, editorial office of "Oskolki."

  The Petersburg street address of the Oskolki editorial offices, which Chekhov used as his own mailing address during his stays in the capital while working for the magazine.

• To N. A. Leikin, 1886. Babkino. §5 подпись для рисунка, данную мне редакцией "Осколков"

  Oskolki ("Splinters") and other humor weeklies of the period often worked from pre-written captions supplied by the editorial staff, which an illustrator would then draw a matching cartoon around -- the reverse of the modern practice of captioning an existing image; Nikolai here works from a stock caption about a parting married couple that Leikin's office had apparently given him earlier and that he had mislaid in his portfolio.

• To R. R. Golike, 11 September 1886. Moscow. §3 Oskolki brevier

  "Осколочный петит" -- brevier (a small, roughly 8-point printers' type size) matching the house type used for Chekhov's magazine \textit{Oskolki} ("Splinters"), specified here so Golike's shop would use a familiar, ready-set face.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 17–18 November 1886. Moscow. §2 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Nikolai Leikin for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte. The gathering Chekhov describes -- ostensibly a poet's evening, but dominated by talk of the magazine's affairs -- reflects how thoroughly Leikin's editorial business permeated his and Alexander's social circle in Moscow and Petersburg in the mid-1880s.

• To N. A. Leikin, 15–20 December 1886. Moscow. §6 "fragment of Moscow life"

  A play on the title of Leikin's magazine \textit{Oskolki} ("Splinters" or "Fragments"): Chekhov promises an "oskolok moskovskoy zhizni" -- literally a single "splinter/fragment of Moscow life" -- turning the journal's own name into the generic word for the kind of short topical sketch he regularly supplied it.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 5 January 1883. Moscow. §4 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"/"Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; he is inviting Alexander to read it as if it were a New Year's gift.

• To N. A. Leikin, 12 January 1883. Moscow. §5 Oskolki

  "Splinters" or "Fragments," the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which the young Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; by early 1883 it was fast becoming his most important outlet.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 25 January 1883. Moscow. §5 Oskolki

  "Splinters," the St. Petersburg humor weekly to which Alexander (and, increasingly, Anton himself) contributed; Anton needles his brother for having gone quiet in its pages.

• To Al. P. Chekhov and A. I. Khrushcheva-Sokolnikova, 3–6 February 1883. Moscow. §3 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" (Splinters), the St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin that was Chekhov's main early outlet and paid him by the line.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, February 1883. Moscow. §14 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" (Splinters), Leikin's St. Petersburg humor weekly, which Anton asks whether Alexander is still receiving, having sent along Leikin's own confirmation that a subscription was arranged.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 17–18 April 1883. Moscow. §2 ``Oskolki''

  "Splinters," the popular Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin; Chekhov's steadiest market at this period and, he argues, the most prestigious of the comic press.

• To N. A. Leikin, 1883. Moscow. §5 Oskolki

  "Splinters," the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which the young Chekhov supplied most of his early comic sketches.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 13 May 1883. Moscow. §5 Splinters

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor magazine edited by Leikin that Chekhov regarded as the most honestly run of the journals he wrote for, though still underpaid relative to his talent.

• To N. A. Leikin, 26 May 1883. Voskresensk. §7 the Splinters

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; out in the country, he complains he isn't seeing recent issues.

• To N. A. Leikin, 4 June 1883. Voskresensk. §6 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches and to which this letter is addressed.

• To N. A. Leikin, 25 June 1883. Moscow. §4 "Oskolki"

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin; the magazine Chekhov here declares his true loyalty to, above the rival journals he also wrote for.

• To N. A. Leikin, 27 June 1883. Voskresensk. §4 "Oskolki"

  The St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly, edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches and to which this letter itself is addressed.

• To N. A. Leikin, 3 August 1883. Moscow. §4 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov supplied comic advertisements, sketches, and captions.

• To N. A. Leikin, 6 August 1883. Moscow. §7 Oskolki

  "Splinters," the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte.

• To N. A. Leikin, 11 August 1883. Moscow. §4 Oskolki

  A St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly (1881-1884, ed. Nikolai Leikin) for which the young Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte.

• To N. A. Leikin, 19 September 1883. Moscow. §6 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Leikin, styled here by Chekhov as "itself an artistic journal" to justify covering art-world news.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 15–28 October 1883. Moscow. §7 "The Chip"

  Chekhov's affectionate nickname (a play on the magazine's name, Oskolki, "Splinters") for Leikin's weekly, here rendered to preserve the diminutive joke.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 15–28 October 1883. Moscow. §10 "The Splinters"

  A literal rendering of Oskolki, the St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited, where Alexander's stories had already been appearing.

• To N. A. Leikin, 10 December 1883. Moscow. §10 "Oskolki Moscow Life"

  The Moscow-gossip feuilleton column Chekhov supplied to Oskolki; here he proposes crowdsourcing its material from readers' submitted "couplets" to lighten his own load.

• To N. A. Leikin, 25 December 1883. Moscow. §5 Oskolki

  Leikin's St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly, for which Chekhov supplied most of his early comic sketches and gossip columns.

• To N. A. Leikin, 12–13 February 1884. Moscow. §8 \textit{Oskolki}

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; its format demanded short pieces, hence Chekhov's hesitation over a 300-350-line story.

• To N. A. Leikin, 17 June 1884. Moscow. §12 Oskolki

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; Chekhov asks that the book advertisement run in the Petersburg Gazette instead, since Oskolki's pages were already cramped and its humorous register did not match the book.

• To N. A. Leikin, 23 August 1884. Voskresensk. §8 oskolki

  Here used both as the title of Leikin's magazine and, lower-case, as Chekhov's own slang for his short items in it -- literally 'splinters' or 'fragments,' i.e. his little squibs.

• To N. A. Leikin, 4 November 1884. Moscow. §9 Oskolki

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited, for which Chekhov's brother Nikolai supplied occasional drawings and Chekhov himself wrote most of his early comic sketches.

• To N. A. Leikin, 26 November 1884. Moscow. §11 Oskolki

  Leikin's humor weekly, for which Chekhov was a leading contributor; he jokes about the incongruity of a busy magazine writer being dragooned into amateur theatricals.

• To N. A. Leikin, 10 December 1884. Moscow. §6 feuilleton

  The feuilleton was a serialized, often satirical or topical column format common in Russian periodicals of the period; Politkovskaya wanted her stories placed in this space in Leikin's Oskolki despite their length exceeding its usual limits.

• To N. A. Leikin, 12 January 1887. Moscow. §4 "Fragments"

  Oskolki ("Splinters," rendered here as "Fragments"), the Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and for which Chekhov was a regular contracted contributor through the mid-1880s.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 17 January 1887. Moscow. §7 "Oskolki"

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches; by early 1887 he was growing tired of its demand for short, trivial pieces ("the small stuff") and wanted to move to longer, more serious work.

• To the Chekhovs, 10 March 1887. Petersburg. §16 Oskolki

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"/"Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin; Chekhov directs the family to route their letters to him there care of the magazine's editorial address while he is away from home.

• To F. O. Shekhtel, 11–12 March 1887. Petersburg. §10 the offices of "Oskolki"

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly for which Chekhov wrote much of his early comic work; giving its editorial address as his own mailing address reflects how closely he was still tied to the magazine in 1887.

• Letter to N. A. Leikin, March 28, 1887 §8 an "Oskolki Office"

  Chekhov's half-joking proposal that Leikin open a small Moscow shop under the name of his Petersburg humor weekly \textit{Oskolki} to sell its publications directly, bypassing booksellers' cuts.

• To N. A. Leikin, 5 May 1887. Ragozina Balka". §7 Oskolki fee

  Payment owed for contributions to Oskolki ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and Chekhov wrote for regularly.

• To N. A. Leikin, 22 May 1887. Babkino. §4 'Oskolki' while I was roaming about the south

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), the Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin that gave Chekhov his start; by 1887 he still owed it occasional comic copy even as he was increasingly writing for the more prestigious Petersburg Gazette and, soon, Suvorin's Novoye Vremya.

• To N. A. Leikin, 4 June 1887. Babkino. §9 "Fragments"

  English rendering of "Oskolki" (Осколки), Leikin's Petersburg humor weekly, for which Chekhov wrote most of his early comic sketches.

• To I. P. Chekhov, 4 June 1887. Babkino. §3 "Oskolki" office

  The Petersburg humor weekly "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), edited by Leikin, which Chekhov uses here simply as a reliable postal forwarding address rather than in its usual role as his publication outlet.

• To F. O. Shekhtel, 12 August 1887. Babkino. §8 Splinters

  Oskolki ("Splinters"/"Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor-satire weekly edited by Nikolai Leikin for which Chekhov wrote many of his early comic sketches; No. 32 of 1887 carried Chekhov's own squib on the eclipse.

• To N. A. Leikin, 21 August 1887. Babkino. §3 "Oskolki"

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and Chekhov's principal outlet in these years; Gruzinsky, like Chekhov, wrote for it, and the letter opens by smoothing over his irritation at Leikin's habit of cutting contributors' verse in half.

• To N. M. Yezhov, 27 October 1887. Moscow. §7 "Oskolki"

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly "Splinters," edited by Nikolai Leikin, for which Chekhov, Yezhov, and Gruzinsky all wrote.

• To N. A. Leikin, 4 November 1887. Moscow. §11 Oskolki

  Oskolki ("Splinters"), Leikin's St. Petersburg humor weekly; the magazine was evidently planning to offer subscribers a book as a premium (bonus gift) rather than a cheap oleograph (a color-printed imitation oil painting), and Chekhov weighs in on the choice.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 25 December 1887. Moscow. §18 Oskolki feminae

  Chekhov's macaronic joke -- Russian "осколочные" (Oskolki's) plus the Latin feminae ("women") -- referring to women on the Oskolki editorial staff or in Leikin's circle expected to forward review copies of his book.

• N. A. Leikin, 27 December 1887. Moscow. §9 "Oskolki"

  \textit{Oskolki} ("Splinters" or "Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and where Chekhov had published since the start of his career; Chekhov here calls it his "baptismal font" and Leikin his "godfather" in a half-joking image of literary parentage.

• To I. L. Leontyev, 1 January 1888. Moscow. §5 You mustn't sign yourself Shcheglov in "Oskolki." Think up a permanent pseudonym for your trifles

  Practical editorial advice: Chekhov himself wrote for Leikin's humor weekly "Oskolki" under pseudonyms (most famously "Antosha Chekhonte") to keep his lighter journalism separate from his literary signature, and urges Shcheglov to do the same.

• To A. Ya. Lipskerov, 1 January 1888. Moscow. §3 "Oskolki"

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"/"Fragments"), the St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Nikolai Leikin, one of the three journals Lazarev regularly wrote for.

• To N. A. Leikin, 26 February 1888. Moscow. §7 "Oskolki" ought not to stray from the program it set out on

  "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), the Petersburg humor-satire weekly Leikin edited and where Chekhov had published most of his early comic sketches; Chekhov objects to its recent taste for risque front-page material.

• To N. A. Leikin, 29 March 1888. Moscow. §10 "Oski"

  Familiar shorthand for Oskolki ("Splinters"), the Petersburg humor weekly Leikin edited and for which Chekhov had written extensively earlier in the decade.

• To N. M. Yezhov, 8 August 1888. Sumy. §3 in "Oskolki" you're as cramped as in a cage

  Chekhov predicts that married life will push Yezhov toward more serious, longer work than the brief comic pieces "Oskolki" ("Splinters") published.

• To N. A. Leikin, 12 August 1888. Sumy. §6 pawn your wife, your children, "Fragments"

  "Fragments" (Oskolki) is Leikin's own humor weekly, where Chekhov had gotten his start; the joke is that Leikin should mortgage even his own magazine to make the trip.

• To N. A. Lei Kin, 5 October 1888. Moscow. §7 "Oskolki"

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly edited by Leikin, to which Chekhov recommends sending his brother Nikolai's drawing.

• To N. A. Leikin, 27 March 1889. Moscow. §7 my debt to "Oskolki"

  Leikin's Petersburg humor weekly "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), to which Chekhov owed a running account balance -- established entity, reused.

• To N. A. Leikin, 25 December 1889. Moscow. §5 подписка

  "Podpiska" ("subscription") -- refers to the subscription/circulation numbers of Leikin's magazine Oskolki, a standard topic of shoptalk between Chekhov and his former editor.

• To V. A. Tikhonov, 11 October 1891. Moscow. §7 What a picture they made of You in "Oskolki"!

  Translates "Изобразили же Вас в \"Осколках\"!" -- an exclamation, evidently amused or teasing, about some caricature or item concerning Tikhonov that had run in the St. Petersburg humor weekly "Oskolki" ("Splinters"), the magazine that had published much of Chekhov's own early comic writing in the 1880s under the Antosha Chekhonte pseudonym. The specific item is not otherwise identified.

• To N. A. Leikin, 12 October 1891. Moscow. §7 whether I owe Oskolki (thirty or forty rubles, I think), or Oskolki owes me

  Chekhov's genuine uncertainty over a five-year-old, small, round-numbered advance -- and his admission that no proper accounting seems to have been done at the time -- is consistent with the informal, personal-trust basis on which he and Leikin's \emph{Oskolki} organization had long conducted business, in sharp contrast to the more businesslike footing of his later dealings with Suvorin's \emph{Novoye Vremya}.

• To Ye. M. Shavrova, 20 June 1891. Bogimovo. §6 order it C.O.D. from Suvorin or from the office of "Oskolki,"

  The St. Petersburg humor weekly where Chekhov began his own career under the pen name Antosha Chekhonte; by 1891 its editorial office also served as a distribution point for books like Lazarev-Gruzinsky's collection.