To P. N. Isakov, 20 January 1891. Petersburg.
П. Н. ИСАКОВУ, 20 января 1891 г. Петербург.
Headnote
A brief, formal note written from Petersburg on 20 January 1891 to Pyotr Nikolayevich Isakov, a week after Chekhov’s previous letter to him (13 January 1891). Isakov had evidently invited Chekhov to read something at an upcoming meeting of a learned society; Chekhov declines, explaining that he has searched his papers and found nothing finished enough to read aloud – he had hoped to offer something on Sakhalin, but is presently absorbed in finishing a short story, and his Sakhalin diary material remains too fragmentary to bring before the Society’s members.
He asks Isakov’s forgiveness and, if possible, a postponement, promising that if he stays in Petersburg through the following week he will read at the Monday meeting after next, with due notice beforehand. The tone – formal address and a closing note of thanks for the honor of the invitation – matches the businesslike register of the earlier letter to the same correspondent.