From 1895 to 1897 he worked in Russia as a teacher, journalist and scholar, then returned to England, learned several other Slavonic languages and in 1900 became an assistant librarian at the British Museum.

During this time he pursued his research into Slavonic folklore, married, and published many stories, articles and translations.

[4] Calderon was the first person to translate into English and successfully direct a full-length play by Anton Chekhov (The Seagull, at Glasgow in 1909).

[5][6] He also published notable translations of Chekhov and Ilya Tolstoy, and wrote several ballet libretti for Michel Fokine.

[8][9] The book Tahiti was posthumously published in 1921, to great acclaim, and in 1925 a production in London of Calderon's translation of The Cherry Orchard established Chekhov as a new force in the English theatre.