1. This letter was written when Van Gogh was visiting his sister Anna. On the same day Anna sent a short note to Theo, in which she wrote, among other things, ‘You can imagine how wonderful it is for me to see Vincent again’, and ‘Vincent is busy showing prints to the children’. See Verzamelde brieven 1973, vol. 1, p. 61, no. 69a (FR b769).

2. It is c. 120 km from Ramsgate to London.

a. Chattam: Read Chatham.

3. Vincent probably sent this letter to Edmund Henry Fisher, the vicar of St Mark’s in Kennington. At that time this parish also had four curates, who were technically also ‘Reverends’: Robert Herbert Fair; Alfred Fairbrother; Alfred Lionel Lambert and Franklen Llewelyn (Crockford’s Clerical Directory 1877). In letter 92, ll. 39-47, Van Gogh says that he used to attend this church often (when he was living with the Parkers). In the present letter (ll. 114-116), he says (in the letter addressed to the minister): ‘I often attended your church’. See also Bailey 1990, pp. 80-81, 88.

4. This letter is included at the end of the present letter.

5. Cf. Matt. 8:8, Luke 7:6 and Luke 15:21.

6. The wording of this prayer recurs in a number of psalms; cf. also Luke 18:13.

7. The financial repercussions of Vincent’s vocational choice and the nature of his new situation was a matter of concern to Mr van Gogh, who wrote the following to Theo on 1 July 1876: ‘Mr Stokes doesn’t want to give him a salary, but instead some free time in which to teach. He doesn’t know how to come by pupils, though. He imagines that Mr Stokes would be willing to let him go. If he senses this even more strongly, he will even take the initiative himself. So the situation is not clear. If he truly has a passion for the church or evangelizing and is really serious about it, I should think that he could start his studies here and we could see if funds could be obtained, but it would take at least 8 years. For that matter, it would perhaps be best for him to look either there or here, but possibly better here, for a position as a bookkeeper, or an office clerk or shop assistant. He continually makes journeys lasting hours and I fear that his appearance will begin to suffer from it and he’ll become even less presentable’ (FR b2756).

8. Presumably George R. Reid; see letter 82, n. 7.

9. Three photographs of paintings by Paul Delaroche; for Good Friday and Mater Dolorosa , see letter 54, n. 14; the third is Le Christ au Jardin des oliviers (Christ on the Mount of Olives) (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 1770 .

b. ‘He’ refers to Van Gogh, not to the minister.

10. King’s College is one of the oldest colleges of the University of London.

11. After attending elementary school, Van Gogh attended a secondary school in Zevenbergen from October 1864 until August 1866 (see letter 76, n. 4), after which he attended the Hogere Burgerschool (HBS) (high school) Willem ii at Tilburg from September 1866 until March 1868. Cf. Meyers 1989, pp. 64-81; and H.F.J.M. van den Eerenbeemt, De onbekende Vincent van Gogh. Leren en tekenen in Tilburg, 1866-1868. Tilburg 1972, pp. 5-26.

12. Uncle Vincent (Cent) van Gogh.

c. Meaning: ‘my life up to now’.

13. Luke 15:21.

14. Luke 15:19.

15. Luke 18:13.

16. Passage from the hymn ‘Tell me the old, old story’ from the book The old, old story by Arabella Catherine Hankey; see letter 82, n. 1.