The article is devoted to the history of the reception of two chronicles of A. P. Chekhov’s life and creative work: the one compiled by N. I. Gitovich and published in 1955, and a multivolume chronicle, which has been being published since 2000 and currently is still uncompleted. Many discussions and reviews devoted to the book of N. I. Gilovich, as well as discussions around the extended version of the chronicle, allow us to trace the similarities and differences in many interpretations of the genre, the target audience, interpretations of the source studies and factual tasks the compilers face. Understanding the specifics of the transformations of the perception of the Chekhovian chronicles can provide a foundation for the creation of future scientific biographies of A. P. Chekhov.