To N. A. Leikin, 25 February 1886. Moscow.

1 A short, playful letter of 25 February 1886 from Chekhov in Moscow to Nikolai Leikin, editor of the humor magazine Oskolki (“Fragments”) and Chekhov’s editor and correspondent in these years. Chekhov jokes about a stuffed or taxidermied dog Leikin has evidently sent him, reports that his friend Vladimir Gilyarovsky (“Gilyai”) is unwell with a fever of unknown cause, sends some signed copies back regarding the dog, and asks Leikin to have further printer’s sheets of a book run off and mailed to him, mentioning a vignette in production at a zincography (engraving) shop.

2 The letter is a small window into Chekhov’s daily working relationship with Leikin — half business (printing sheets, proofs, production details for a book), half comic banter typical of their correspondence, in which absurd or grotesque objects (here, a stuffed dog) become occasions for shared jokes. It also documents his concern for Gilyarovsky, a lifelong friend, and offhandedly captures the practical mechanics of 1880s Russian print publishing (wrapper post, zincography vignettes, printer’s sheets sent for approval).