To the Chekhovs, 1891. Florence.

Written the same day as the companion letter to I. L. Leontyev (Shcheglov), during the well-known spring 1891 European tour with Alexei Sergeyevich Suvorin.

Chekhov asks the family to send off a telegram on his behalf to Pavlovsky on Sakhalin, instructing him to go and see Dr. Shcherbak. He then reports briefly from Florence – cold weather, low spirits ("Хандрим,we are out of sorts"), and a wry aside that every few steps in the city bring another shop selling pictures or statues – says he leaves for Rome the next day, and signs off in the same mock- Italian "Antonio" persona used throughout this leg of the trip. A one-line postscript asks that his watch be sent out for repair. The envelope address (Russia / Moscow, Malaya Dmitrovka, the Firgang house / to Maria Pavlovna Chekhova) is preserved from the reverse.