Five-volume edition

The collected works of Chekhov in 5 volumes, prepared by the publishing house "Azbuka" in the anniversary year of Chekhov, is a unique project, without analogues in the book market. This collection is not organized chronologically, but thematically. Its concept was proposed by the famous literary scholar, specialist in the works of A. P. Chekhov, Professor Igor Nikolaevich Sukhikh of St. Petersburg State University. Chekhov repeatedly contemplated the idea of a large novel and even began work on it. This novel even had a title — "Stories from the Lives of My Friends," and it was supposed to consist of separate stories closely connected by common themes and characters. This idea was not destined to come to fruition, and nevertheless, one can attempt to piece together, to reconstruct chapters and parts of an imaginary Chekhov novel, which is what has been undertaken in this publication. Each volume is preceded by an introductory article by the compiler, and the texts are accompanied by detailed comments from Professor A. D. Stepanov of St. Petersburg State University.