Others, having no such valuable property to sacrifice on the altar
of Chekhov, have not hesitated to place him side by side with
Ibsen, and the other established institutions of the new theatre.
For these reasons it is pleasant to be able to chronicle the fact
that, by way of contrast with the casual treatment normally handed
out to Russian authors, the publishers are issuing the complete
dramatic works of this author. In 1912 they brought out a volume
containing four Chekhov plays, translated by Marian Fell. All the
dramatic works not included in her volume are to be found in the
present one. With the exception of Chekhov's masterpiece, "The
Cherry Orchard" (translated by the late Mr. George Calderon in
1912), none of these plays have been previously published in book
form in England or America.

It is not the business of a translator to attempt to outdo all
others in singing the praises of his raw material. This is a
dangerous process and may well lead, as it led Mr. Calderon, to
drawing the reader's attention to points of beauty not to be found
in the original. A few bibliographical details are equally
necessary, and permissible, and the elementary principles of
Chekhov criticism will also be found useful.

The very existence of "The High Road" (1884); probably the earliest
of its author's plays, will be unsuspected by English readers.
During Chekhov's lifetime it a sort of family legend, after his
death it became a family mystery. A copy was finally discovered
only last year in the Censor's office, yielded up, and published.
It had been sent in 1885 under the nom-de-plume "A. Chekhonte," and
it had failed to pass. The Censor, of the time being had scrawled
his opinion on the manuscript, "a depressing and dirty piece,--