To I. M. Kondratyev, 18 May 1889. Sumy.
И. М. КОНДРАТЬЕВУ, 18 мая 1889 г. Сумы.
Headnote
1 Written from Sumy on 18 May 1889 to Ivan Maksimovich Kondratyev, this is a brief formal note of business, evidently addressed to a compiler or keeper of a repertoire catalogue of plays cleared by the theatrical censor – a different Kondratyev from the Ivan Kuzmich Kondratyev (minor Moscow writer of popular fiction and songs) addressed in the 1887 letter about the Savrasov painting; see below.
2 After the double dateline (1-2) and a formal salutation (3-4), Chekhov asks that two of his plays be entered in what is evidently a catalogue of plays: the new one-act jest "A Tragedian in Spite of Himself (A Scene from Summer Life)," which he had sent to the censor about two weeks earlier and expected to have already cleared, and, while he is at it, "The Wood Demon, a comedy in 4 acts," due to open on the imperial stage that autumn – explicitly so as to spare Kondratyev a second such request over the summer (5). The letter closes with a formal expression of good wishes and respect (5) and the signature (6).
4 No corrupted or garbled text was found in this letter; no editorial gap markers appear in the source. double dateline, salutation, and a two-part practical request followed by closing and signature