To A. S. Suvorin, 5 November 1889. Moscow.

A short note of introduction and family news, written from Moscow to Alexei Sergeyevich Suvorin, the newspaper publisher (Novoye Vremya) who was Chekhov’s closest correspondent and patron by this date. The occasion for the letter is practical: Chekhov’s younger brother Mikhail ("Misha") Pavlovich Chekhov, who has just finished his university course and is heading to St. Petersburg both to seek a post – as vice-director in the Department of Assessed Taxes – and to marry, is deputized to carry Chekhov’s own manuscripts-in-progress and a letter for Suvorin’s associate Neupokoyev (already established as an intermediary in Chekhov’s business with Suvorin in the preceding fortnight’s letters, e.g.). Chekhov asks Suvorin to receive Misha kindly. The letter closes with a somber aside on mortality – "My family is thinning out: one has died, another is leaving..." – an allusion to the death of Chekhov’s brother Nikolai earlier in 1889, set against Misha’s own departure from the family home, followed immediately by a brisk, almost brusque return to practical courtesies and a warm sign-off.