To F. O. Shekhtel, 11–12 March 1887. Petersburg.

1 Written from a Petersburg hotel room in March 1887 to Chekhov’s close friend, the architect Fyodor Shekhtel. Chekhov, twenty-seven, had been called north unexpectedly on unwelcome business and is stranded there, broke, nervy, and eager to get south to Taganrog and the Crimea before the end of the month.

2 The letter mixes comic self-dramatization with real financial anxiety that is entirely characteristic of Chekhov’s correspondence in these years. He apologizes, half in jest, for having neglected to call on a mutual acquaintance, Darya Karlovna; asks Shekhtel to help arrange a free (and conveniently undated) return rail ticket to Taganrog; grouses about a borrowed coat never returned; and closes with an affectionate, list-form signature ("boots, galoshes, teeth, waistcoat, and all") typical of his letters to intimate friends. He also gives a passing, deflationary verdict on two rival Petersburg art exhibitions of the season – the official Academy show and the Wanderers’ (Peredvizhniki) show.