114

Br. 1990: 114 | CL: 95
From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Theo van Gogh
Date: Amsterdam, Saturday, 19 May 1877
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1. Theo paid a visit to Vincent on Sunday, 13 May – later on in the letter he says ‘Will you come again on a Sunday to my study?’ (l. 86).
2. Although Theo had promised his parents that he would visit them on the Whit weekend of 20-21 May, he ended up staying in The Hague (FR b2532 and letter 115).
3. Most likely the lithograph Terugweg van het kerkhof (Returning from the cemetery) by Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch Dzn. after Jacob Maris, in Kunstkronijk 3 (1862), NS, no. 16. This print is to be found in Theo’s scrapbook (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, t*1488, 22). Ill. 1804 [1804].
A few lines later Van Gogh says that he has purchased 13 lithographs for very little money. The works acquired, which he describes, correspond to the reproductions in Kunstkronijk; the works by the other artists mentioned appeared in this same issue. Since Van Gogh bought them as a set, there is a good chance that these lithographs were all taken from the magazine. See Chris Krijt, ‘Young Vincent’s art collection’, Vincent. Bulletin of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh 4-3 (1975), pp. 24-26.
[1804]
4. Cf. Matt. 5:3 and Luke 6:20.
5. Most likely the lithograph De kerk op de heide (The church on the heath) by Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch Dzn. after Alexander Mollinger, in Kunstkronijk 4 (1863), NS, no. 10. Ill. 1805 [1805].
[1805]
a. ‘Boekenjood’ means a Jewish dealer in old and second-hand books.
6. Most likely the lithograph De biddende weeze (The praying orphan) by Hendrik Adriaan Christiaan Dekker after Diederik Franciscus Jamin, in Kunstkronijk 6 (1865), NS, no. 4. Ill. 1806 [1806].
[1806]
7. The lithograph Vóór ’t naar school gaan (Before going to school) by Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch Dzn. after Matthijs Maris, in Kunstkronijk 8 (1867), NS, no. 8 (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum p791). Ill. 1807 [1807].
[1807]
8. This could refer to the following lithographs from Kunstkronijk, all of which are preserved in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam): Een kloostergang (Cloisters) by Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch Dzn., in Kunstkronijk 7 (1866), NS, no. 21. Ill. 1808 [1808]; Eene kerkekamer (A church room) by Jan Mesker, in Kunstkronijk 12 (1871), NS, no. 2. Ill. 1809 [1809]; De Bakenesse-kerk te Haarlem (The Bakenesse Church in Haarlem) by Anthony Cornelis Cramer Nz., in Kunstkronijk 9 (1868), NS, no. 15. Ill. 1810 [1810]; Eene kerk met figuren (A church with figures) by Bosboom himself, in Kunstkronijk 13 (1852), no. 4. Ill. 1811 [1811]; Het klooster te Boxmeer (The cloisters at Boxmeer) by Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch Dzn., in Kunstkronijk 2 (1861), NS, no. 16. Ill. 1817 [1817]; Godsdienstoefening in eene dorpskerk (Divine service in a village church) by Adolf Carel Nunnink, in Kunstkronijk 3 (1862), NS, no. 15. Ill. 1818 [1818]; Eene kerk van binnen (A church interior) by Adolf Carel Nunnink, in Kunstkronijk 5 (1864), NS, no. 1. Ill. 1819 [1819]. The lithograph Cantabimus et Psallemus [1690], by Bosboom in Kunstkronijk was mentioned in letter 40, n. 17.
[1808] [1809] [1810] [1811] [1817] [1818] [1819] [1690]
9. For Jacobus Jan van der Maaten’s lithograph De laatste kerkgang [1719] (Going to church for the last time), in Kunstkronijk 3 (1862), NS, no. 20; see letter 36, n. 2.
[1719]
10. The lithograph by Hendrik Adriaan Christiaan Dekker after Winter, ook in ’t leven (Winter, in life, too) by Jozef Israëls, in Kunstkronijk 4 (1863), NS, no. 17. Also included in a scrapbook from the estate (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, t*1487, 41). Ill. 1820 [1820].
[1820]
11. The lithograph Het atelier van Adriaan van Ostade (The studio of Adriaen van Ostade) by Anthony Cornelis Cramer Nz., after Van Ostade’s The painter’s studio (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), in Kunstkronijk 12 (1871), NS, no. 8. Ill. 1821 [1821].
[1821]
12. The lithograph Nadagen (Latter days) by Hendrik Adriaan Christiaan Dekker, after the panel Latter days (The stove-setter) (The winter of life), 1863 by August Allebé (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), in Kunstkronijk 6 (1865), NS, no. 11. Ill. 1822 [1822].
[1822]
13. Vincent and Theo’s younger brother Cor had turned 10 on 17 May.
14. Biblical.
15. Taken from the poem ‘The ivy green’ by Charles Dickens: see letter 101, n. 23.
16. The Buitenkant ran from Kalkmarkt to Gelderse Kade, which in 1879 was renamed Prins Hendrikkade.
17. The railway station of the Hollandsche Spoor dated from 1843 and lay between Nassauplein and the Willemspoort, now the Haarlemmerpoort. From here the railway continued to Haarlem.
18. The centre of Amsterdam is bordered on the north by the River IJ.
19. Van Gogh describes the area around Buitensingel (up to the Kostverloren Vaart) and Lijnbaansgracht, with the public gardens on the Schans, where there were numerous sawmills. See J. van Eck, De Amsterdamsche Schans en de Buitensingel. Amsterdam 1948, and the topographical map ‘Situatie langs de Singelgracht tusschen de Kattensloot en het Varkenspad in 1870’ (SAAm).
20. In this context compare, for instance, Rembrandt’s etching View of Amsterdam, c. 1640 (B210), even though it was made on the Diemerdijk.
[115]
21. Carl Adolph Streckfuß, Die Weltgeschichte. Dem Volke erzählt. With numerous illustrations. 3 vols. Berlin 1865-1867. This publication treats the history of the world up to 1789. A revised Dutch translation appeared a short while later under the title De geschiedenis der wereld, aan het volk verhaald door Adolf Streckfuss. Adapted from the German by B. ter Haar Bz. 10 vols. Leiden and Ghent 1866-1875.
22. This utterance of Corot – which Van Gogh twists slightly, making it sound more serious – comes from an anecdote about a painting which, though it did not sell at first, eventually fetched 700 francs and was finally sold – many years later – for 12,000 francs. In Corot’s words: ‘the buyer was so pleased to have it that he gave a party for its unveiling. I was graciously invited and showered with kindnesses… And yet, it was the same thing as before, when nobody wanted it; I’m doing the same sort of thing at present, but one has come to accept it, and that has taken only forty years’ work. It is not I who have changed, but the consistency of my principles that has triumphed, and I am overjoyed!’ (l’acquéreur était si heureux de l’avoir qu’il donna une fête pour son inauguration. J’y fus convié gracieusement et comblé de gentillesses... C’était pourtant la même chose qu’autrefois quand on n’en voulait pas, à présent je fais encore de même, seulement on y est venu, et il n’a fallu pour cela que quarante ans de travail. Ce n’est pas moi qui ai changé, mais bien la constance de mes principes qui a triomphé, et je nage dans le bonheur!) See Dumesnil 1875, p. 52.
23. 2 Cor. 7:10.
24. 1 Cor. 5:6-7 and Gal. 5:9.
25. Hymn 13:1-2.
26. Hymn 17:1.
27. Eccl. 9:10.
28. Cf. Acts 14:27.
29. Cf. Rhy. ps. 42:7.
30. Cf. Ps. 62:9 (in KJ Ps. 62:8).
31. Cf. Isa. 2:9 and Isa. 5:15.
32. Jan Aertsen.
33. Acts 17:27.
34. On 2 May 1877, Mrs Tersteeg-Pronk gave birth to her third child. Evidently her confinement was not without complications; Mrs van Gogh also asked Theo about her health (FR b2528, 7 May 1877). The child died on 24 July; see letters 124 and 125.
35. A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
36. Ps. 121:7.
37. John 17:15.
38. Biblical.
39. 2 Cor. 6:10.
40. For ‘wee-moed’ (woe-spiritedness), see letter 102, n. 53.
41. Van Gogh lived in a room in the house of Uncle Jan van Gogh, who lived at Kattenburgerstraat 3, on the grounds of the Marinewerf (naval dockyard).
42. Van Gogh is most likely referring to the Oude Kerk (De Nederlands Hervormde Kerk, or Dutch Reformed Church) in Keizerstraat; the Badkapel (‘The Protestant Chapel’) in Gevers Deynootplein was intended especially for use by the summer visitors to this seaside resort.
Shortly after 7 May, Vincent left Etten to visit Theo in The Hague; they paid a visit to Anton Mauve, among other people (see letter 137). Mr van Gogh had asked Theo to do the following: ‘Wouldn’t you be willing to do a work of mercy and have his hair metamorphosed by a clever barber? Here in Etten we don’t have such people. It seems to me that a Hague hairdresser would be able to make something of it ... We are very keen on Vincent’s going to see Tersteeg, Haanebeek and Mauve. So help bring that about’ (FR b959, 7 May 1877). A letter from Anna to Theo confirms that the meeting did indeed take place: ‘I heard from Etten that Vincent has been to see you’ (FR b2530, 13 May 1877).
43. It cannot be ascertained exactly which portrait Van Gogh saw, since a number of portraits of Michelet were in circulation, including a painting by Couture, a photograph by Nadar, an engraving by Boilvin and a lithograph by Lafosse. Cf. Roland Barthes, Michelet par lui-même. Paris 1954.
44. The phrase was taken from the chapter ‘Comment l’auteur fut conduit à l’étude de la nature’, with which Michelet’s L’oiseau (1856) opens: ‘Work was forbidden me; for the first time in 30 years I was separated from my pen, out of the life of ink and paper whereby I had always made my living.’ (Michelet 1861, p. 46). The Van Gogh family was already familiar with this book in 1875 (FR b2346).