To Al. P. Chekhov, 24–25 July 1891. Bogimovo.

A short family-news letter of 24 or 25 July 1891 from Bogimovo, the Kaluga province estate where the Chekhov family was summering, to Chekhov’s eldest brother Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov, a journalist then living in Petersburg: dateline, short-form address, a mock- formal opening catching up on family news, two short items of literary/professional business, a question about a naval visit, news of two summer neighbors, a note on their mother and the question of Alexander’s children’s adoption, a query relayed from a third party, a closing, signature, a postscript on their brother Nikolai’s grave, and a repeated return address.

Chekhov opens with his customary mock-elevated address to Alexander – here playing on Alexander’s own prolific fatherhood ("photographic and prolific brother") – apologizing for his silence by joking that he has spent the interval thinking up "great thoughts" worthy of a reply. He reports the family well, regrets that Alexander’s brood keeps him from visiting the dacha, and notes their father has left his post at Ivanygorch and moved in with them; Suvorin has visited twice, fishing and asking after Alexander. Chekhov describes himself as worn down by the Sakhalin book and other "penal-servitude" work, and daydreams of a lottery win that would let him buy land and settle near Alexander and their brother Ivan, gifting each a few acres "like poor relations." He passes along a literary opinion he shares with Suvorin (a story by the writer known as "Sedoy" is good, but a recurring character called Chizh should be kept anonymously "the doctor"), asks why Alexander writes so little, and asks whether he attended the reception for a visiting French naval squadron. He notes two new summer neighbors at Bogimovo – the zoologist V. A. Vagner, an old classmate of Alexander’s, and the painter Kiselev – with whom he takes evening walks. He reports their mother’s anxiety over her grandchildren (Alexander’s sons), whom she cannot be convinced are well cared for, presses Alexander again about formally adopting the boys, and promises to send Anton’s birth certificate in the fall. A brief relayed request about a photograph follows, then the closing, signature, a one-line postscript noting their late brother Nikolai’s grave is being kept up, and a repeated return address.