Lillian Hellman's deft, gracious introduction and biographical notes form a suitable framework for these letters of Chekhov, written from 1885 to 1904. His correspondence with such men as Suvorin, editor of the St. Petersburg New Times, with whom he differed over the Dreyfus case; with Maxim Gorki on Gorki's writing; with Stanislavski over dramatic productions at The Moscow Art Theatre which his Sea Gull saved from bankruptcy -- reveal the serious, candid artist with a growing sense of responsibility to truth and society. His letters to brothers, sister, mother, and wife show equally the affection, humor, tolerance and gentleness of the man, despite his illness which took him from the literary centers to Yalta and elsewhere. There is pleasure and new insight here for all Chekhovians.