To I. I. Gorbunov-Posadov, 18 July 1891. Bogimovo.

A short business note of 18 July 1891 from Bogimovo, the Kaluga province estate where the Chekhov family was spending the summer, to Ivan Ivanovich Gorbunov-Posadov, editor and moving force of Posrednik ("The Intermediary"), the publishing house Tolstoy had helped found to put cheap, morally improving booklets into the hands of the Russian peasantry. a two-line dateline, a two-word salutation split across its own lines, a body of two paragraphs, a closing line, and signature.

Chekhov gives Posrednik permission to print his story "Womenfolk" (Бабы, 1891) and acknowledges Gorbunov-Posadov’s request that he forward offprints of his own stories, and those of other writers, that might suit the press’s list – a request he says he will think over with knowledgeable people rather than commit to at once. He then itemizes a set of catalogue numbers chosen from a Posrednik booklist, asks that they be sent, thanks Gorbunov-Posadov in advance, and requests that his story "Vanka" (also a Posrednik item, as in) be sent once printed, along with proofs of "Womenfolk" if convenient, promising to read them promptly.