1. Since the last week of June, Van Gogh had been living at Linkfield House, 183 Twickenham Road, where William Port Stokes had set up his new school.

2. Exod. 16:3 talks of the ‘flesh pots’ of Egypt. Van Gogh’s mistake could have arisen through confusion of this biblical passage with Egypt’s seven years of great plenty, as described in Gen. 41:29-30, 34 and 53. One of the meanings of the Dutch word ‘vetpot’ is ‘excess’.

3. Luke 15:17; cf. also Exod. 16:3.

4. A missionary working in London. The London Missionary Society, which was founded in 1795, sent missionaries abroad to the British Empire.

a. Meaning: ‘special’.

5. Cf. letter 84, n. 3. This letter prompted Mr van Gogh to remark in a letter to Theo: ‘In London he paid a visit to a minister whose services he used to attend, thereby attempting to secure a situation in the church (albeit not as a preacher). There was talk of missionary work in London amongst the poor, but that fell through because he doesn’t meet the minimum age requirement. There was also talk of missionary work in South America. I cannot perceive from his letter any true desire for it on his part. When this is not paramount, I should call it great folly. And in the end a very costly undertaking, which would surely come to nothing for want of proper training, and mean returning home at great expense’ (FR b2756, 1 July).

6. Vincent’s parents were concerned about his future. On 1 July, Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘if only he had the ambition to study to be a secondary school teacher of English or French, but Pa says that they give preference to those with a qualification as an assistant teacher. Would he be averse to all business or only to the art business?’ (FR b2755).

7. Ary Scheffer, Christus Consolator (Christ the consoler), 1837 (Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum). There are various versions of and reproductions after this canvas, one of which was included in Goupil’s ‘Album de Photographies’, no. 62 (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale). The engraving by Louis Pierre Henriquel-Dupont, dating from 1857, has the following text inscribed above it: ‘Misit me sanare con tristos corde praedicare captivis remissionem. St. Luc. Ch. IV’ (Luke 4:18-19), to which Van Gogh refers in letter 86 (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 1771 . See Ewals 1987, pp. 278-279; exhib. cat. Dordrecht 1990, p. 39; and exhib. cat. London 1992, p. 131, cat. no. 53.

b. Read: ‘zullen’.

8. Regarding the paintings in the Royal Collection of Hampton Court Palace, see cat. London 1844; cat. London 1898, and Bourke 1909. See also Roy Nash, Hampton Court. The palace and the people. London 1983. Many of the paintings referred to by Van Gogh have now been reattributed.

9. Hanging in Hampton Court Palace were a number of portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger, including Lady Elizabeth Vaux, Erasmus, Frobenius, John Reskemeer of Cornwall and Henry viii. See cat. London 1844, pp. 7, 12-14, 17, 26-27, cat. nos. 33, 281, 300-301, 306, 314-315, 323-324, 337, 338-341, 347, 351, 511, 893, 928; see also cat. London 1898, pp. 213, 217-218, 220-225; cat. nos. 591, 597, 599, 603, 606, 608, 610.

10. A panel of A Jewish rabbi and a canvas of A Dutch lady were both attributed to Rembrandt. Ill. 1775 and ill. 1776 . See White 1982, p. 111, cat. no. 167 (as A rabbi with a cap) and p. 110, cat. no. 165 (as Portrait of a lady with hands folded (Hendrickje Stoffels?). White classifies both works as ‘Style of Rembrandt’.

11. Portrait of a man, attributed at the time to Giovanni Bellini and later to Francesco Bissolo, who worked for years in Bellini’s studio. Ill. 1777 . See cat. London 1898, pp. 46-47, cat. no. 117. Marco Basaiti has also been suggested, though not without reservation, as the author of this portrait. See Bourke 1909, p. 11.

12. The following portraits by Titian have been named: A portrait, Alessandro de Medici, Ignatius Loyola, Titian’s uncle, The marquis del Guasto and his page, A portrait and A portrait of Titian, by himself. See cat. London 1844, pp. 7-9, 26-27, cat. nos. 42, 79, 113, 115, 888, 916, 919; see also cat. London 1898, pp. 46, 48, 57-58, cat. nos. 116, 122, 149; and Bourke 1909, pp. 20-21.

13. The following works by Leonardo da Vinci have been named: A man taking a walk, Flora, Herod’s daughter with the head of John the Baptist and The Christ child and the infant Saint John. See cat. London 1844, pp. 7, 9, 12, 15, cat. nos. 44, 140, 264, 391. Law attributes Flora – with reservations – to Luini. See cat. London 1898, p. 20, cat. no. 61.

14. Andrea Mantegna, The triumphs of Julius Caesar (c. 1485-1494). At that time it was assumed that these nine canvases were cartoons: ‘The purpose for which these pictures were originally intended has been sometimes misconceived. They are not properly called cartoons at all, that is, they were not designed as models for frescoes or tapestries, but were painted in tempera on twilled linen.’ Cf. The triumphs of Caesar: The elephants. Ill. 1813 . Cat. London 1898, pp. 274-281, cat. no. 797 (quotation on p. 276). See also Ronald Lightbown, Mantegna. With a complete catalogue of the paintings, drawings and prints. Oxford 1986, pp. 424-433, cat. no. 28; and Christopher Lloyd, Andrea Mantegna, The triumphs of Caesar. A sequence of nine paintings in the Royal Collection. London 1991.

15. Salomon van Ruysdael, A river in Holland. Ill. 1778 . See White 1982, pp. 114-115, cat. no. 173 (as A river landscape with sailing boats).

16. Fruits, etc., then attributed to Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp. Now this Still life is described as ‘Anonymous: seventeenth century’, ‘more in style of Willem Kalf’. Ill. 1814 . See White 1982, p. 166, cat. no. 284.

17. Charles i, King of England, married Henrietta-Maria of France in 1625.

18. This statement made by the queen of England was taken from Oraisons funèbres by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet: ‘How often in this place did she humbly thank God for two great favours: the first, for having made her a Christian, the second – Gentlemen, what are you expecting? For having restored the position of her son the king, perhaps? No. It was for having made her an unhappy queen. Ah! I begin to regret the narrow confines of the place in which I speak.’ (Combien de fois a-t-elle en ce lieu remercié Dieu humblement de deux grandes grâces: l’une, de l’avoir fait chrétienne; l’autre, Messieurs, qu’attendez-vous? peut-être d’avoir rétabli les affaires du roi son fils? Non. C’est de l’avoir fait reine malheureuse. Ah! je commence à regretter les bornes étroites du lieu où je parle.) See J.B. Bossuet, Oraisons funèbres. Paris 1998, p. 139. Oraisons funèbres (Funeral Orations) is a collection of eulogies delivered by Bishop Bossuet on persons famous at the time. The book, which was compiled in 1689, was reprinted in various versions containing added sermons and panegyrics.

19. The eulogy ‘Oraison funèbre de Henriette de France, reine de la Grande-Bretagne’ was delivered on 16 November 1669.

20. Matt. 12:34 and Luke 6:45.

21. The numerous editions and reprints of Bossuet’s work include inexpensive editions. A 50-centimes edition has not been found. Oraisons funèbres. Bibliothèque d’éducation et de récréation. Paris n.d. (Collection des classiques français dédiée à la jeunesse), which sold for 3 francs, contained the eulogy on pp. 23-68.

22. François Guizot, L’amour dans le mariage. Etude historique, 1855 (Love in marriage. Historical study). This little book sketches the blissful relationship of the English politician Lord William Russell and his wife Rachel Wriothesley. Lady Russell demonstrated lifelong devotion to her husband, who was executed on 21 July 1683. Guizot pays particular attention to the constant, modest, virtuous and, above all, pious Lady Russell, a truly ‘great Christian lady’. He makes no mention whatsoever of Hampton Court. Guizot’s text first appeared in the Revue des Deux Mondes (May 1855). See François Guizot, L’amour dans le mariage. Etude historique. 6th ed. Paris 1858, quotation on p. 92.