work

Pestrye rasskazy (Motley Tales)

Motley Tales

also: Пестрые рассказы, Motley Stories

The title Chekhov proposes to Leikin here, arrived at with Palmin after a long search for something better; in slightly expanded form ("A. Chekhonte. Pestrye rasskazy") it became the actual title of Chekhov's first published book later in 1886.

Reading notes

To N. A. Leikin, 3 February 1886. Moscow. §8 "Motley Tales"
"Pestrye rasskazy" (Motley Tales/Mixed Stories) -- the title Chekhov proposes here, arrived at with Palmin after failing to find anything better; it would in fact become, in slightly expanded form ("A. Chekhonte. Pestrye rasskazy"), the title of Chekhov's actual first book, published later in 1886.
To N. A. Leikin, 24 May 1886. Voskresensk. §6 Now about the book
Refers to "Pestrye rasskazy" ("Motley Tales"), Chekhov's first book collection, published by Leikin's Oskolki press earlier in 1886; the surrounding sections track the ordinary mechanics of getting a first book noticed and sold -- placing paid advertisements in multiple Moscow and Petersburg papers and coordinating physical delivery of copies to booksellers -- a process Chekhov, by his own admission, found bewildering and left largely to Leikin's more experienced hand.
To Al. P. Chekhov, 19 March 1887. Moscow. §17 'Motley Tales,' a large volume in close print
Advertising copy for Chekhov's earlier collection "Motley Tales" (Pestrye rasskazy, 1886), to be printed on the new book's back cover -- a small piece of self-promotion embedded in the production circular itself.
To M. V. Kiseleva, 21 March 1887. Moscow. §7 "Motley Tales"
Chekhov's first book collection (1886), a compilation of his early comic sketches and stories; he cites its modest per-sheet advance as a point of comparison to reassure Kiseleva that even he, by then a recognized writer, would have been glad of similar terms at the outset.
To Al. P. Chekhov, 7–8 September 1887. Moscow. §2 my book
"Motley Stories," Chekhov's first substantial story collection, which Alexander had just seen through the press in Petersburg on Anton's behalf -- the errand-running (and attendant illness) this paragraph thanks him for, with heavy irony.
To N. A. Leikin, 11 September 1887. Moscow. §13 Motley Tales
"Pestrye rasskazy" (Motley Tales), Chekhov's first collected book, published under Leikin's imprint in 1886; Chekhov asks Leikin for an update on how the volume is selling or faring.
To Al. P. Chekhov, 25 December 1887. Moscow. §18 Motley Tales
Pestrye rasskazy, Chekhov's first collected book, published in 1886; a review or presentation copy was evidently meant to be sent on to Pleshcheyev.
To Al. P. Chekhov, 11–12 April 1888. Moscow. §8 "Motley Stories,"
Chekhov's first published collection (1886); listed here among the back-cover advertisements for his books.
To A. I. Leman, 30 April 1888. Moscow. §4 "Motley Stories"
Chekhov's first story collection (1886), which he recalls having included advertisements for friends' publications in, the precedent he cites in agreeing to Leman's proposal.
To N. A. Leikin, 5 November 1888. Moscow. §8 "Motley Tales"
"Пестрые рассказы," Chekhov's own first published story collection (1886), not a work of Leikin's; the royalties owed him for it are the subject of the accounting that follows here and in \S10.
To N. A. Leikin, 5 November 1888. Moscow. §10 "Motley Tales"
The same 1886 Chekhov collection referenced in \S8; here Chekhov gives Leikin a conditional instruction for a hundred rubles from the sum owed him for it.
To N. A. Leikin, 22 December 1888. Moscow. §5 "Motley Tales" are sold out
"Пестрые рассказы," Chekhov's own 1886 story collection, not a work of Leikin's; its sales through Salaev are also discussed in.
To N. A. Leikin, 21 February 1889. Moscow. §8 "Motley Stories"
"Пестрые рассказы," Chekhov's own 1886 story collection, not a work of Leikin's, matching its identification in.
To N. A. Leikin, 27 March 1889. Moscow. §3 "Motley Tales"
"Пестрые рассказы," Chekhov's own 1886 story collection, published by Leikin -- the 2 copies sold are Chekhov's book, not one of Leikin's own editions under discussion in this section.
To N. A. Leikin, 27 March 1889. Moscow. §7 "Motley Tales."
Same work as in \S3 -- the printing house's account settlement Chekhov is chasing concerns this book, distinct from Leikin's own unsold editions discussed earlier in the letter.
To N. A. Leikin, 10 April 1889. Moscow. §4 Motley Tales
Pyostrye rasskazy, Chekhov's 1886 story collection, still being sold and reordered by booksellers three years after publication; Leikin's office handled its distribution.
To N. A. Leikin, 12 October 1891. Moscow. §7 Motley Stories has come out in a second edition
\emph{Pestrye rasskazy} (\emph{Motley Stories}), Chekhov's first book, was originally published in 1886 under the byline "A. Chekhonte"; a second edition in 1891 reflects its continuing commercial life five years on, and it is precisely the accounting for this reissue -- how many copies of the first printing sold, and what money changed hands with \emph{Oskolki} and its printer -- that occasions the query to Golike and the larger uncertainty about who owes whom.
To R. R. Golike, 31 March 1890. Moscow. §6 счет по "Пестрым рассказам". Это необходимо.
The overdue item is a счет -- an accounting or royalty statement -- for "Motley Stories," Chekhov's first story collection (1886), which Golike's firm had printed. Chekhov had already raised this same request in an earlier, apparently unanswered March letter (\S6: "In March I sent you a letter and got no answer"); by 31 March 1890 he is chasing it a second time, with the flat closing insistence "This is necessary" underscoring that this is business, not pleasantry, appended after the Easter greeting and the valediction of \S5. Compare (17 March 1890, to Suvorin), written the same month, where Chekhov separately notes he has "not yet received anything" for "Motley Stories" from a different quarter (the Society of Dramatic Writers) and doubts he ever will -- the accounting for this collection was evidently unsettled on more than one front at once in spring 1890.
To K. G. Foti, 3 May 1890. Tyumen. §6 "Motley Tales"
\emph{Pestrye rasskazy} ("Motley Tales," 1886), Chekhov's second story collection and the first to appear under his own name rather than a pseudonym; by 1890 its print run was exhausted, and Chekhov notes here that a new edition will not appear until after his return from the Sakhalin journey he is in the midst of undertaking as he writes.
To I. P. Chekhov, 27 January 1891. Petersburg. §5 Motley Stories
\textit{Пестрые рассказы} ("Motley Stories," 1886), Chekhov's first collected volume, originally gathering his early comic sketches; a second edition is here still only planned ("I want to print"), unlike the other three titles named in this section, which have already gone to further printings.
To A. S. Suvorin, 31 January 1891. Moscow. §9 I read through Motley Stories for the second edition
\emph{Pestrye rasskazy} (\emph{Motley Stories}), Chekhov's first book, originally published in 1886 under the name arrived at with Palmin in the letter to Leikin; Chekhov here culls more than twenty stories in preparing a revised second edition.