201 Stories by Anton Chekhov

Here, in the order of their publication in Russia between 1882 and 1904, the year he died from tuberculosis at age 44.

The complete stories were translated and published in 13 volumes between 1916 and 1922 by Constance Garnett, who stated, "I regret that it is impossible to obtain the necessary information for a chronological list."

That was then, this is now.

A thirteen-volume set of all 201 stories was published by Ecco Press in 1984; late in 2006, to coincide with its own thirty-fifth anniversary, Ecco republished the thirteen volumes in a boxed set.

Want one?

A snip at $899.99.

Mona Simpson wrote about the collected stories in the Atlantic magazine; her review follows.

Tales of Chekhov

In 1984, Daniel Halpern, founder of the Ecco Press, began republishing all 201 of the Constance Garnett translations of Anton Chekhov's stories. Since then, the thirteen resulting volumes have become a contemporary staple for the library of any serious reader. (I think I've purchased five whole sets in those twenty-odd years — several as wedding presents, one as a baby present, one remains in my study.) The price of around $8.50 per volume (which would total $110 for the series) represented a tremendous bargain for the most comprehensive collection of Chekhov stories in what is still the best complete translation available in English. Late in 2006, to coincide with its own thirty-fifth anniversary, Ecco republished the thirteen volumes in a handsome boxed set. After twenty years, the price has climbed only to $150.

Chekhov is a master at making his characters' darkest aspects comprehensible and human. He's never sentimental and he's not particularly pleasant, but he will always feel modern because of his astonishing juxtapositions and the way his characters' swift, darting minds vacillate between idealism and boredom, vanity and hope. His narrator has a keen vision of class anger, resentment, and envy. Although less enchanted by his own characters than was Tolstoy, Chekhov acutely portrays largeheartedness.

Given that all of the Chekhov stories translated by Garnett can be downloaded for free (James Rusk made them available at chekhov2 .tripod.com), Ecco might be wise to assemble the books in durable hardback; they will always find a market.

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FunFact: Mona Simpson is Steve Jobs's sister. They only learned they were kin as adults, long after Jobs had been put up for adoption by his unmarried mother one week after his birth.