To N. M. Yezhov, 2 January 1892. Petersburg.

Dated 2 January 1892, from Petersburg, to Nikolai Mikhailovich Yezhov, a young contributor to Chekhov’s Moscow humor-magazine circle. This is the corpus’s first letter dated to 1892.

A New Year’s letter mixing money matters, magazine gossip, and literary encouragement. Chekhov sends 100 rubles, 41 of which are Yezhov’s own and the remaining 59 to be delivered to Chekhov’s mother at the Firgang house via Volkov’s office, which pays out without requiring proof of identity. A further 9 rubles will reach Gradovsky through Bilibin. Chekhov reports attending the jubilee of the "Petersburg Gazette", where Khudekov gave him two silver medals to pass on to Yezhov and to A. S. Lazarev (Gruzinsky), and set Chekhov’s rate at 40 kopecks a line with a 200-ruble advance. He praises Yezhov’s story "Woman," relays that Leikin also likes another of Yezhov’s stories, and reports that Tikhonov and Shcheglov have both received copies of a collection called "Not-Boring Stories." He notes a captioning mix-up in the "Petersburg Gazette," where portraits of Lazarev and Yezhov were mislabeled with each other’s names. He closes with good wishes, a bow to "Alexander Semyonovich" (likely Lazarev-Gruzinsky, whose patronymic is Sergeyevich in the entity record – possibly a different Alexander Semyonovich, unidentified), and a request for confirmation that the money arrived. A postscript reports that Petersburg literary circles are generally pleased with Yezhov’s work but regret its want of polish and frequent carelessness; that Albov praises Yezhov’s story and will print it in March; and that Chekhov will in due course arrange for Yezhov to receive "Sever" and "Severny Vestnik".