Manuscript material in the Patrick Miles Chekhov Collection, 1880-1998

This collection contains manuscript items from the Patrick Miles Chekhov Collection. The items in the collection are a product of research by Patrick Miles between 1967 and 1988 into Russian theatre and the work of Anton Chekhov specifically. The collection is particularly strong on Russian and British criticism of Chekhov's early works, and the history of the British staging of his plays. The collection contains:

Bibliographies compiled by Patrick Miles. 1968-1988 (CHEK/BB);

Card indexes containing notes made by Miles relating to editions of Chekhov and references to his work in criticism. 1968-1988 (CHEK/ID);

Chekhov research materials: papers relating to reception and criticism of Chekhov's work in Russia and England. The papers comprise newspaper cuttings, photocopies, off-prints, manuscripts and whole issues of newspapers and journals. 1880-1988 (CHEK/R);

Chekhov on the British Stage: theatre programmes and other papers relating to the performance and production of Chekhov's plays in Britain. 1930-1998 (CHEK/TP).

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia in 1860. He studied medicine at Moscow University and qualified as a doctor in 1884. He was primarily a writer, initially contributing articles to magazines on the subject of theatre and later writing his own plays. His first full-length play was Ivanov, written in 1887 and translated into English in 1912. This was followed by Leshy / The Wood Demon (1889/1926), Chayka / The Seagull (1896/1912), Dyadya Vanya / Uncle Vanya (1896/1912), Tri Sestry / The Three Sisters (1901/1916), and Vishnyov Sad / The Cherry Orchard (1904/1908). He also wrote a number of one act plays and short stories. Chekhov died in 1904.

Patrick Miles studied at the University of Cambridge. He has specialised in the study of Chekhov and his fluency in the Russian language has led to the establishment of the Patrick Miles Translation Agency in Cambridge and his role as a Russian lector at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Patrick Miles' published work on Chekhov, including editions and translations, includes: Chekhov: the early stories 1883-88 (London: Murray, 1982); Chekhov on the British Stage 1909-1987: an essay in cultural exchange (Cambridge: Sam and Sam, 1987), Early Stories (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), Chekhov on the British Stage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), and Mikhail Gromov: Chekhov scholar and critic (Nottingham: Astra, 2003).

The collection has been divided by document type into four series.

Accessible to all registered readers; however the research materials are restricted pending full cataloguing; please contact Manuscripts and Special Collections for advice.

On the World Wide Web:

Catalogue accessible from the website for Manuscripts and Special Collections, Manuscripts Online Catalogue. Copyright on the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

Good

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk).

The collection was accumulated by Patrick Miles between 1967 and 1998 and was acquired by The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections on several occasions between 1999 and 2002.

The University of Nottingham; Library: Printed books relating to Anton Chekhov acquired from Patrick Miles. The books are listed on the University's on-line catalogue, UNLOC

Leeds University; Library: Patrick Miles Collection including papers relating to Chekhov and the British stage. 1989