To Al. P. Chekhov, 20 May 1887. Babkino.

1 Written on 20 May 1887 from Babkino, the country estate near Voskresensk where the Chekhov family was summering, this letter goes to Anton’s elder brother Alexander in Petersburg, addressed with the joking nickname "Sasha-Tarakasha" ("Sasha-Cockroachy"). Chekhov had just returned from a long journey south to his native Taganrog and the Donets steppe, and the letter’s business is practical: Alexander had been collecting and managing Anton’s magazine fees while he was away, and Anton now itemizes exactly what is owed him from three pieces published in the "Peterburgskaya Gazeta" – "In the Forest,The Examining Magistrate," and "Townsfolk" – by line count, and asks Alexander to gather the roughly 100 roubles due and forward it to Voskresensk.

2 Alongside the bookkeeping, the letter is warmly fraternal: gratitude for Alexander’s trouble amid his own family troubles, delighted praise for a comic letter Alexander had written him in mock-Latin (which so impressed a Taganrog Latin teacher), family inquiries, and closing weather-and-mood small talk. The final line is a stray arithmetic jotting – "868 x 12 = 104 r. 16" – apparently Chekhov’s own fee calculation left on the page, preserved here as part of the document.