To N. M. Kozhin, 17 January 1890. Petersburg.

Written from Petersburg on 17 January 1890, to Nikolai Matveyevich Kozhin, who had apparently written to Chekhov on 14 January inquiring about staging Chekhov’s one-act farce A Marriage Proposal (russian"Предложение") in Moscow. Chekhov replies with a brief, formal refusal: the play’s Moscow performance rights for the current theatrical season had already been given exclusively to the actress Madame Goreva.

The letter is a single short, formal business note in one register throughout are the dateline (given twice, once in full and once abbreviated, as often in this edition’s letter headers). is the formal salutation. is the single substantive sentence: the refusal and its reason. is a formal closing courtesy. is the signature. The register throughout is markedly more formal/official than Chekhov’s letters to family or close friends (russian"Милостивый государь" / "Dear Sir," and the elaborate closing "I beg you to accept the assurance of my perfect regard," are period epistolary formulas for addressing a stranger on business), consistent with Kozhin being someone Chekhov did not know personally.