To A. S. Suvorin, 6 November 1886. Moscow.

1 A brief note from Chekhov to Alexei Suvorin, the influential publisher of the newspaper "New Time" ("Novoye Vremya"), written in Moscow on November 6, 1886. Chekhov, then a regular contributor to Suvorin’s paper, passes along a request from his friend, the poet Liodor Palmin: that Suvorin arrange a bibliographical notice for Palmin’s new book, "The Adventures of an Idealist," a text written to accompany illustrations by the artist Bush. Chekhov notes that a copy of the book was sent to Suvorin the day before.

2 Though slight, the letter is a small window onto Chekhov’s role as a literary go-between in Moscow’s press world of the mid-1880s, using his growing standing with Suvorin to help a struggling fellow writer gain notice. It also marks an early moment in what would become one of Chekhov’s most important professional and personal correspondences.