The Bishop and Other Classic Tales

The Bishop by Anton Chekhov, is a classic exploration of the human mind told through the eyes of a renowned Bishop. In the waning weeks of his life, the man reflects on his past and his priorities. Written during the period when Anton Chekhov was gravely ill with tuberculosis, The Bishop reveals the author’s feelings about his own imminent death, and is considered one of his finest works. He resolves to forget the days past, and make the best of the time he has before him.

The Bishop is classic Chekhov, the supreme Russian master of the short story, revealing the fragile and multilayered essence of human nature.

ANTON CHEKHOV (1860–1904) was a Russian author and physician, considered to be among the greatest writers in history. His career produced numerous classics including The Cherry Orchard, The Duel, The Bishop, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and Three Sisters. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theater. Always modest, Chekhov could hardly have imagined the extent of his posthumous reputation. Ovations for The Cherry Orchard in the year of his death showed him how high he had risen in the affection of the Russian public—by then he was second in literary celebrity only to Tolstoy. After his death, Chekhov's fame spread further. Constance Garnett's translations won him an international readership and the admiration of writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Katherine Mansfield.