To R. R. Golike, 20 February 1886. Moscow.

1 A brief note written in Moscow on 20 February 1886 to Roman Romanovich Golike, the printer and publisher who would produce Chekhov’s early book "Pestrye rasskazy" (Motley Tales) later that year. Chekhov thanks Golike for a letter and a sample of paper, then reports – via the architect and designer Fyodor Shekhtel, who happens to be visiting him as he writes – that the ornamental cover vignette Golike had proposed may be dropped, apparently because Chekhov has declined an invitation to Shekhtel’s Shrovetide pancake party.

2 The letter is a small, playful glimpse into the practical, collaborative work behind Chekhov’s first book publications: haggling over paper stock and cover ornament with his printer, with the architect Shekhtel – a close friend who later designed buildings for the Chekhov family – teasing him in person. The genuine postscript, added after the letter was apparently finished and signed, shows Chekhov’s light touch: Shekhtel relents and shows him the vignette after all, and Chekhov’s delight is unguarded.