Anton Chekhov

To the Editor.—  Dr. Alexander Macdonald's all-too-short article (229: 1203, 1974) on Anton Chekhov, Russian physician and writer, will serve, I hope, as a long-overdue stimulus to the American medical community to acquaint itself with this extraordinary man. Actually, interest in Chekhov the literary figure is undergoing a much-deserved revival in this country and in England, as evidenced by the reissuing of many of his writings and the increasing number of his plays being produced. Coincident with this revival has been the appearance of not one but two separate editions of his selective letters,^1,2 which provide an unusual insight into the man and his character. Unfortunately, certain limitations exist regarding the publishing of Chekhov's letters: (1) Selectiveness must be exercised since his correspondence is truly voluminous. (2) Some of his personal written exchanges were heavily censored, and it has not been possible to reconstruct faithfully all of the deleted