24 See LN68, 493-510 for V. A. Tikhonov's and Leikin's diaries. 25 See OR, 331 81 13: Pavel's letters to Aleksandr, 1874-94. 26 See OR, 331, 52 2b: Lika's letters to Anton, 1893-4. 27 See LN68, 570-2. 28 See LN68, 484. 29 The same journalist also attacked Chekhov as 'a writer without support or goal' and hoped 'he gets closer to human sufferings…', but now Chekhov overlooked abuse from Russian Thought.
30 The Suvorins and Chekhov were all relieved they had not gone: the Russian contribution was just a party of bureaucrats, who were the butt of the American President's sarcasm. 31 Anton's letter to Gorbunov-Posadov, Chertkov's editor, 26 Apr. 1893. 32 Potapenko's memoirs are in V vospominaniiakh. 3 3 Suvorin was not intentionally cheating Anton, but New Times had notoriously bad bookkeeping. 34 See RGALI, 459 1 2161: O. P. Kundasova's letters to A. S. Suvorin, 1891-1908. 35 See OR, 331 43 ug: N. Ezhov's letters to Anton, 1893: 16 Apr. 36 That Athenian night was beautiful. The beautiful is unforgettable. Dear poet, if you only knew what a headache…/I await the supreme vice and send you your dowry./My little Sappho. Come at once, urgent. See RGALI, 571 1 1204: Lidia Iavorskaia's fifty-one letters to Shchepkina-Kupernik, 1893. 37 See OR, 331 64 2: T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik's letters to Anton, 1893-1900. 38 See OR, 331 64 34: Lidia Iavorskaia's letters to Anton, 1893-6. 39 See PSSP, 5, 506: see RGALI, 459 3 I240 See LN68, 479-92; Leontiev-Shcheglov's diary. 41 See OR, 331 56 36a: Potapenko's letters to Anton, 1893-5. See Perepiska II, 1984, 62-76. 42 See OR, 331 46 ib: Ivanenko's letters to Anton, 1892-4. 43 See OR, 331 93 79: Lika Mizinova's letters to Masha, 1894. NO PART vi Lika disparue 1 See OR, 331 52 zb: Lika's letters to Anton 1893-4; some in Perepiska II, 1984, 16-59. 2 Miroliubov was soon to leave the opera and become Chekhov's last editor. 3 See OR, 331 93 79: Lika Mizinova's letters to Masha Chekhova, 1894. 4 See OR, 331 64 34: Lidia Iavorskaia's letters to Anton Chekhov, 1893-6. 5 See OR, 331 56 36a: Potapenko's letters to Anton, 1893-5. See Perepiska II, 1984, 62-76. 6 See OR, 331 95 2: Potapenko's letters to Masha, 1894-5. 7 See OR, 331 64 2: T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik's letters to Anton Chekhov, 1893-1900. 8 Quoted in PSSP, 5, 611. 9 See OR, 331 50 11: Aleksandra Liosova's three letters to Anton, 1894. 10 Quoted from E. M. Sakharova, A. I. Ivanenko - vechnyi drug in Chekhoviana: Melikhovskie trudy i dni, 1995, 327-33411 See OR, 331 46 lb: Ivanenko's letters to Anton, 1892-4. 12 See LN68, 479-92; Leontiev-Shcheglov's diary. 13 See OR, 331 81 13: Pavel's letters to Aleksandr Chekhov, 1874- 94: Aug. 1894. 14 See MXaT, (Sanin), 5323: L. S. Mizinova-Sanina's letters to Lidia Iurgeneva. 15 See MXaT, (Sanin), 5323/ 1933-1973: L. S. Mizinova's letters to Sofia Ioganson, 1877-99. 16 SeelRLI, fond 285, S. I. Smirnova- Sazonova papers. 17 Sablin's brother, a tax inspector (died in 1895), protected Misha; Mikhail Sablin, a theatre manager, edited The Russian Gazette. The Sablins and Misha made Masha a monthly allowance, which Anton pretended not to know about. 18 Chekhov's library had two books on syphilis, and none on OA, yet Potapenko remembers him telling a consumptive passenger on a train to abandon work and family and live in Algiers. 19 See RGALI, 2540 1 483: Masha's letters to Misha, 1884-1904: 7 Aug. 1894. 20 See OR, 331 81 21: Pavel's letters to Anton, 1886-96. 21 See OR, 331 33 iv: Pavel Chekhov, various documents. 22 See 0 semie, 1970, 179. 23 See A. P. Kuzicheva, E. M. Sakharova, Melikhovskii letopisets, 1995. 24 See RGALI, $JI 1 1137: Masha's letters to Shchepkina-Kupernik, 1894-1951. 25 See OR, 331 33 14: Natalia Golden-Chekhova's letters to Anton, 1888, 1894. 26 See L. Z. Abramenkova, 'Sosed Chekhovykh V. N. Semenkovich' in Chekhoviana: Melikhovskie trudy i dni, 1995, 264 -72. 27 Mikhailov became Medvedenko in The Seagull. In 1895 the peasants called for his dismissal. 28 Quoted in PSSP, 5, 587. 29 See OR, 331 43 nd: Nikolai Ezhov's letters to Anton, 1894-7. 30 See OR, 331 93 80: Lika's letters to Masha Chekhova, 1895. 31 See A. la. Al'tshuUer, A. P. Chekhov i L. B. Iavorskaia, in Chekhoviana, 1990, 140-51. 32 See OR, 331 64 34: Lidia Iavorskaia's letters to Anton Chekhov, 1893-6. 33 See OR, 331 52 2v: Lika's letters to Anton, 1895 -6; some in Perepiska II, 1984, 16-59. 34 See OR, 331 48 79a: O. P. Kundasova's letters to Anton, 1892 -1904.
19
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615
ANION NE!• E NOV NOTES
35 See OR, 331 48 83a: Dr P. I. Kurkin's letters to Anton, 1892-5. 36 Quoted in PSSP, 6, 381. 37 See OR, 331 59 46: Anna Suvorina's letters to Anton, 1889-1901. 38 See LN68, 484. 39 See LN68, 502. 40 Misha said that the story was based on the laroslavl tax inspector Sablin's unhappy marriage. 41 See OR, 331 82 59: Misha's letters to Masha, 1890-6: 12 Jan. 1895. 42 See MXaT, 5323/19: S. M. Ioganson's diary, book 5, 1895-7. 43 See M. A. Sheikina, 'Iz pisem I. V. Chekhova e S. V. Chekhovoi' in Chekhoviana: Melikbovskie trudy i dni, 1995, 315-27; RGALI, 2540 1 238-43. 44 See RGALI, 289 1 16: N. Ezhov's letters to Leikin, 1894-1903. 45 In August 1895 Ezhov asked Leikin for an advance of 200 roubles for the marriage. Leikin replied that he was glad Ezhov had found the love of his life, and sent him 50. 46 Chekhov asked Korobov to translate a passage from Nietzsche for his new play. 47 Glukhovskoi, the vet, had, as an insurance agent too, a double interest in the Chekhov cows. 48 See OR, 331 60 62: Anna Turchaninova's letters to Anton Chekhov, 1895, 1900. 49 See OR, 331 63 4V: Elena Shavrova-Iust's letters to Anton Chekhov, 1895. 50 See Ilia Sats, Iz zapisnoi knizhki, Moscow-Petrograd, 1923, 53-4. 51 See OR, 331 81 24: Pavel's letters to Maria Chekhova, 1885-98: 15 Dec. 1895. 52 See RGALI, 2540 1 149: Aleksandr's letters to Ivan Chekhov, 1882-97: 31 July 1895. 53 Menshikov's articles upset all Serpukhov district, proving that Prince Viazcmsky was not a precursor of Tolstoy, emancipating peasants and giving away property, but a dissolute drunkard. The meeting with Tolstoy was marred for Anton by neuralgia which struck the whole of his right face. He took painkillers, quinine, ointment, and had a tooth pulled, but the pain persisted for two weeks; a year later an optician would diagnose the cause. PART VII The Flight of the Seagull 1 See Kleopatra Karatygina's memoirs, LN68, 575-86. 2 See Sazonova's diary, LN8j, 307-8. 3 See OR, 331 52 29: Marfa Ivanovna Loboda's letters to Anton, 1881-1902; 4 Jan. 1896. 4 See OR, 331 56 36b: Potapenko's letters to Anton 1896. See Perepiska II, 1984, 62-76. 5 A flirtatious conversation is reconstructed in unChekhovian detail in Avilova's memoirs (V vospominaniiakh 121-208), but her account is pardy corroborated by other records. She recalls being surprised by Anton's visit to Petersburg, first catching sight of him that year in a theatre box: 'How ridiculous and weird it was: papa Suvorin and maman Suvorin and Chekhov, their baby, in die middle.' 6 See OR 331 73 10: Pavel Chekhov's letters to Misha, 1885-98: 5 Feb. 1896. 7 See OR, 331 47 13V: Kleopatra Karatygina's letters to Anton, 1892 -1904. 8 This view is VI. Rynkevich's, in Putesbestvie k domu s mezoninom, Rostov, 1990. See OR, 331 52 2v: Lika's letters to Anton, 1895-6; some printed in Perepiska II, 1984, 16-59. 9 See A. P. Kuzicheva, E. M. Sakharova, Melikhovskii letopisets, 1995. 10 In the printed versions of Suvorin's diary Gei is misread as Chekhov (Suvorin's hand was appalling) and it was therefore thought that Chekhov had fled Melikhovo at Easter 1896 to be with Suvorin. A close reading of Suvorin's manuscript confirms, however, that he strolled the cemetery with Gei, not Chekhov. n See OR, 331 73 11: Evgenia's letters to Mikhail Chekhov, 1885-1903. 12 See T. L. Sukhotina-Tolstaia, Dnevniki, 1979, 372. 13 See Menshikov's letter to Chekhov, 20 Aug. 1896, quoted in PSSP, 500-1. 14 Lugovoi was Aleksei Tikhonov, the brother of V. A. Tikhonov, editor of The North. 15 Iakovenko refused beds to the insane whom Chekhov wanted interned; relatives had to apply for a council grant of 5 roubles a montli to pay for a chain, a guard and sedatives. Tolokonnikov gave Anton a violin as a mark of his gratitude for the bromide he prescribed. 16 See MXaT, 5323/19: S. M. Ioganson's diary, book 5, 1895-7. 17 This is not the view in Rynkevich's Putesbestvie k domu s mezoninom, Rostov, 1990. 18 Volkenshtein was the Jewish boy Chekhov had saved from expulsion in 1877; Chuprov taught Chekhov statistics at Moscow University; Professor Veselovsky was an academician. 19 See Grigori Moskvich, Putevoditel' po Kavkazu, SPb, 1911, 83.
20 See LN68, 479-92; Leontiev-Shcheglov's diary. 21 See PSSP, XIII, 364-5. 22 The revision was done after The Seagull had been completed. Firstly, Uncle Vania, like The Seagull, has no scene divisions. Secondly, August and September 1896 are the only months between two works ('My Life', 'Peasants') when Anton could have found time to rewrite tie play. Thirdly, details added to Uncle Vania reflect Melikhovo in summer 1896: Mariushka, the cook's tame chicks (the Konovitsers refused to eat them), and Marina's speckled hen on-stage in Uncle Vania; in June Chekhov's visit to Mal'tsy for dysentery, and Dr Astrov's to 'Malitskoe' for typhus; on 15 August a visitor Menshikov 'in dry weather wears galoshes, carries an umbrella, so as not to perish of sunstroke', and Vania mocks Serebriakov: 'An oppressively hot day, and our great scholar goes out with an umbrella, in his overcoat, gloves and galoshes.' 23 Bychkov's memoirs, told to V. E. Ermilov, are in Kavkazskii krai Krasnodar?, 1913, No. 145. 24 Sazonova wrote: 'We were all at Sodom's End. We saw Chekhov. He came to see our actors.' 25 See Vvospominaniiakh…, 350-5. 26 See LN68, 499-510 for Leikin's diary. 27 Karpov's memoirs (dubious) are in V. F. Komissarzhevskaia… Materialy, 1964, 214-5. 28 Anna Suvorina's memoir, in M. D. Beliaev, A. S. Dolinin, A. P. Chekhov. Zateriannye proizvedneiia, Neizdannye pis'ma, Novye vospominaiia… Leningrad: Atenei, 1925, 185-95. 29 I have not been able to trace this line in Avilova's printed works.
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