19
19
614
615
ANION ÑÈ!• Ê 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 ê 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.
23
23
616
617
ANTON CHEKHOV NOTES 30 PSSP, 6, 523.
31 See OR, 331 63 4g: Elena Shavrova's letters to Anton, 1896. 32 Kugel bad not met Lika, who drank, or her friend Varia Eberle, who took snuff. 33 Quoted in PSSP, 6, 532; written 21 Oct. 1896. 34 See E. M. Shavrova-Iust's memoirs in I. M. Sel'vaniuk, V. D. Sedegov, Sbornik statei i materialov pi, Rostov, 1963, 267-308. 35 See Perepiska, 1984, II, 150-1. 36 See K. A. Chaikovskaia, 'Melikhovskie pozhary' in Chekhoviana, 1995, 272-7. 37 Russian dramatists usually received two per cent of the gross takings for each act of their play. 38 See OR, 331 63 25g: Franz Schechtel's letters to Anton, 1894-1900: 17 Dec. 1896. 39 See OR, 331 36 72: Emilie Bijon's letters to Anton, 1896-1900. 40 See OR, 331 54 50: Liudmila Groupillon-Ozerova's eight letters to Anton, 1896-7. 41 Meanwhile Nikolai Ezhov was enrolled as census taker for the dosshouses of Moscow. 42 See OR, 331 63 4d: Elena Shavrova's letters to Anton, 1897. 43 See OR, 331 48 7: Vera Komissarzhevskaia's letters to Anton, 1897-1903. 44 See Pis'ma, 1939, 331-3. PART VIII Flowering Cemeteries 1. See LN68, 479-92; Leontiev-Shcheglov's diary. 2 See Sazonova's diary, LN87, 309. 3 Koumiss is fermented mares' milk; it tastes like a mixture of champagne, chalk and rancid butter. It is easily digested and its bacteria are thought to be beneficial.
6i8
4 According to her memoirs she elicited from Anton a confession of undying love; at the time, however, she told Leikin (see his diary LN68, 499-510) diat Chekhov was forbidden to speak. 5 See PSSP, 6, 616-7: Olga Shavrova's account is hard to believe. 6 See OR, 331, 63 4d: Elena Shavrova's letters to Anton, 1897. 7 See S. M. Chekhov, Î semie, Iaroslavl, 1970, 118. 8 See PSSP, 6, 631-2.