To M. M. Dyukovsky, 7 January 1889. Moscow.

1 A brief, purely practical note of 7 January 1889 from Moscow to Mikhail Mikhailovich Dyukovsky, apparently a schoolmaster or official connected with the Meshchansky School (Meshchanskoye uchilishche), a Moscow trade/vocational school for the meshchanstvo (lower urban estate). Chekhov passes on word of a bookselling discount and gives a small, friendly book-buying recommendation.

2 Chekhov reports that he has just learned that "Novoye Vremya"’s Moscow shop has been instructed from Petersburg to give the Meshchansky School a 10% discount – evidently useful news for Dyukovsky if he is buying books for the school (or its library) from Suvorin’s "Novoye Vremya" bookselling operation, with which Chekhov was closely associated. He adds a personal recommendation: if Dyukovsky buys the works of Burenin, Bezhetsky, and Shcheglov, he will do well, as they are worth having. The note closes with family regards and Chekhov’s signature.