To V. N. Davydov, 3 January 1888. Moscow.
В. Н. ДАВЫДОВУ, 3 января 1888 г, Москва.
Headnote
1 A brief note of 3 January 1888 from Chekhov in Moscow to the actor Vladimir Nikolaevich Davydov (1849–1925), a leading comic and character actor of the day, then performing in Petersburg. Davydov had promised to call on Chekhov, so Chekhov writes ahead to say he is leaving town for three days, off to the countryside, and will not be back until the night of the 6th.
2 The letter is little more than a scheduling note, but its one substantive line asks after "my Calchas" – Chekhov’s one-act monologue for a single actor, written with Davydov in mind for the title role of the aging comedian Vasily Svetlovidov (the play was staged and later republished under the title Swan Song). The note closes with informal domestic touches: a greeting to Davydov’s housemate, and the reverse-side address showing Chekhov’s own lodgings on Petrovka Street, in the house of one Kharitonov, under the rooms of an "Eugène."