To Al. P. Chekhov, 11–12 April 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on 11 or 12 April 1888 to Chekhov’s elder brother Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, who was overseeing the printing of Chekhov’s story collection "Rasskazy" ("Stories") in St. Petersburg. The letter is a rapid string of publishing instructions and family news, dictated by the pressure of the book going through the press.

2 Chekhov corrects the running order of the stories ("The Mire" before "The Steppe,The Kiss" last), insists that "Happiness" open the volume with its dedication to the poet Ya. P. Polonsky, and specifies the title page, the cover’s list of contents, and the back-cover advertisements for his earlier books "Motley Stories" and "Twilight." He also asks about a second edition of "Twilight," complains that his books are not reaching the railway-station bookstalls (a matter for Suvorin’s son Mikhail, who ran that side of the business), and reports in passing a visit from Fyodor Glebov, an old family acquaintance from Taganrog, who had asked after Alexander and shown guarded disapproval of his common-law household. Chekhov closes, as often, with a mock- grand signature.