1. Theo boarded with the family of the minister Hendrik van den Brink, place St Catherine 5 in Brussels (cf. FR b2594, b2608 and SAB).

2. Tobias Victor Schmidt was Theo’s boss at Goupil & Co. in Brussels. He called himself ‘Marchand de gravures et tableaux’ (Dealer in engravings and paintings) (SAB, Civil registration).

3. Vincent sent 25 guilders of this bonus to his parents. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Vincent sent us 25 guilders of his savings to help us out. Lies and Willemien needed new clothes and Ma will use the money for that. How good of Vincent. So he realizes that he wants to be of assistance to us, and he sets a good example for the others’ (FR b2596, 24 January 1873). At this time Theo was earning a starting salary of 30 francs, or approximately 15 guilders a month (FR b2604, 19 February).

4. Emile Louis Vernier made a great many reproductions after the work of Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, including the collection of Emile Vernier. Douze lithographies d’après Corot. Notice par Philippe Burty. Paris, Librairie artistique, 1870 (without mention of price). Below the lithographs is recorded ‘Impr. Lemercier’. The lithographs were made after works in the collections of, among others, Hadingue, Gravet, Désiré, Rouart and Sensier (three pieces), including the Girl reading (no. 9) (Paris, BNF, Cabinet des Estampes). Ill. 1694 .

5. This portrait photograph was taken by the photographer J.M.W. de Louw (FR b4784). Ill. 1695 .

6. The Palais des Académies – also called the Palais Ducal – in rue Ducale housed the Musée des Plâtres and the Musée Moderne.

7. Hendrik (Hein) Vincent van Gogh, retired art dealer in Brussels, brother of Mr van Gogh. He suffered from an unidentified wasting disease.

8. Uncle Hein’s second wife was Maria van Gogh-Boon, Aunt Mietje.

9. Vincent van Gogh, retired art dealer and collector, brother of Mr van Gogh.

a. Meaning: ‘Did he stop off, did he interrupt his journey?’

10. This colleague of Theo at Goupil’s in Brussels is most likely the later landscape painter Edouard Michel Ferdinand Hamman, son of the artist Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman. In 1878 Uncle Vincent van Gogh wrote to Theo, mentioning the Hamman family and ‘Eduard’ in connection with one another : ‘Have you ever gone to see the Hamman family? They’re home again. Eduard will also be coming back from his studies around 15 Oct.’ (FR b5342; cf. letters 41 and 189). Eduard left on 15 October 1873 (FR b2669). See Hostyn 1978, pp. 138, 143.