1. Anna was a lady companion in Hengelo; see letter 107, n. 4.

a. Read: ‘brings’.

3. This echoes several biblical passages, such as 1 Pet. 4:8, Eph. 4:2, Col. 3:13 and Christ’s words ‘thy faith hath made thee whole’ in Matt. 9:22, Mark 5:34, Mark 10:52, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19 and Luke 18:42.

4. With regard to this exhibition, see letter 125, n. 3.

5. Theo must have told his parents of Vincent’s refusal to visit him, as emerges from the explanation given by Mr van Gogh: ‘It’s a pity that Vincent cannot decide to visit you, the more so because you wanted to make it possible for him by sending him money, which he has now sent back.

There might be a human reason behind it, which one can indeed appreciate. I imagine that as long as he is not actually a student, that is until he hears that he has amounted to something, it could well hurt his feelings a bit to present himself now in The Hague to those who knew him before. If once he succeeds in passing an examination, thereby giving proof of actual competence, then he will feel that he has acquitted himself in the eyes of the public. I can understand that feeling to some extent ... I should like him to have a more cheerful tone and also hope that he won’t keep himself too aloof from normal life. He must also apply himself quite seriously to conversation. But I’d like to say to you: do not take it amiss and continue to help him, and if he cannot now decide to come and visit you, go and see him, if you can manage it. You would certainly be doing good, and do remain on an intimate footing with him. He has such urgent need of it.

It is really a formidable task that he has taken upon himself, and it seems that he has started by applying himself to it with all seriousness and not without success.

He has recently seen many members of the family at Uncle Jan’s and occasionally experienced stressful days there’ (FR b2551, 16 August 1877).

6. For Uncle Cor’s villa at Baarn, see letter 158, n. 11.

7. Mrs van Gogh did not approve of Vincent’s decision: ‘I was very sorry that Vincent did not accept your good intention. It is not the same thing, going to Baarn or going to see you, but it’s possible he’ll shrink from the idea until he has progressed further, but even so, he should say it plainly, because then I’d be able to understand it. Do continue to write to him faithfully’ (FR b2552, 22 August 1877).

8. Cf. Ps. 82:4.

9. Cf. Luke 12:21.

10. Cf. Luke 10:42.

11. Cf. Isa. 54:11, ‘O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted’. The tenor of this passage is in keeping with the parental concern for children of which Van Gogh speaks.

12. The saying ‘Media vita in morte sumus’ comes from the 11th-century hymn Antiphona de morte; cf. also the beginning of Dante Alighieri’s Divine comedy.

13. Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek most likely had tuberculosis. The Van Gogh family felt for her and feared for her life: ‘How terrible for Caroline Haanebeek, it will certainly end badly; the poor people, who watch her wasting away like that’ (FR b2561, 6 October 1877). ‘Poor Caroline Haanebeek. She wrote such a sweet letter. It is often the most delicate plants that cannot withstand raw weather!’ (b2564, 1 November 1877). In fact Caroline lived until 1926.

14. Namely Annet Haanebeek; see letters 33 and 35.

15. Biblical; see, for example, Matt. 6:4, 6:6 and 6:18.

16. Matt. 7:7 and Luke 11:9.

17. Possibly an allusion to ‘Der Spinnerin Nachtlied’ by Clemens Brentano; see letter 18, n. 1.

18. The poem ‘Der Wirthin Töchterlein’ by Ludwig Uhland; see letter 14, n. 15.

19. Taken from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem ‘My lost youth’ (verse 8) as it appears in the volume Birds of passage. See Longfellow 1886-1891, vol. 3, pp. 41-44.

20. Cf. Luke 9:62.

21. A saying based on 1 Kings 2:2.

22. For the print after Jacob van Ruisdael, The bleaching fields at Overveen

, cf. letter 37, n. 3.

23. Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek had gone to live outside The Hague (FR b2552).

24. Cf. Matt. 5:16.

25. An allusion to the words spoken by the daughter of Pharaoh to the wet-nurse of the suckling Moses. See Exod. 2:9, ‘Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages’.

26. The early service attended by Vincent at 7 a.m. on 5 August could have been either the one conducted by the Rev. J.P. Hasebroek in the Noorderkerk or the service taken by the Rev. Ph.J. Hoedemaker in the Zuiderkerk.

27. Charles-François Daubigny, Le pont Marie (The Marie bridge). Lithograph by Emile Louis Vernier, 1870 (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 1844

. Which woodcut (or rather wood engraving) Van Gogh is referring to here has not been ascertained.

28. One of the shops where ‘sea-charts, books and instruments’ were sold was located at the corner of Nieuwebrugsteeg and the quay; at Warmoesstraat 96 was the printing house of De Roever-Kröber-Bakels (UBA, Bibliotheek van de Koninklijke Vereniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels, sub Weduwe van Keulen; and Adresboek Amsterdam).

b. Provisions and food taken on sea voyages.

29. Christoffel and Kee Vos lived at Prinsengracht 158, opposite the Westerkerk.

30. On 5 August, Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate conducted the 10 a.m. service in the Eilandskerk. The publications mentioned are the song De schepping, een gedicht (Creation, a Poem). Utrecht 1866, reprinted in 1867 and 1869, and the recently published Bij brood en beker. Stemmen des Avondmaals (Bread and cup. Voices from the Lord’s Supper). Amsterdam 1876.

In De schepping, Ten Kate attempted to reconcile the results of recent discoveries in the field of geology and the teachings of the Bible. Laurillard, with whom Van Gogh often attended church, praised the book. Bij brood en beker is a ‘guide’ for families wishing to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and is aimed especially at the younger members of the congregation who wish to profess their faith. The book alternates between poems and songs (by E. Laurillard, N. Beets, R. Feith and others), biblical passages, and pieces of prose by various authors, including Claudius, Thomas a Kempis, Fénelon, Spurgeon, J.P. Hasebroek and of course Ten Kate himself. Van Gogh read all these writers.

31. The apostle Paul.

32. Karl Georg von Raumer, Palästina (Palestine). The first four editions were all published in Leipzig, in 1835, 1838, 1850 and 1860: Palästina. With maps. In the meantime a Dutch translation had also appeared: Palestina. With a map of Palestine. Translation after the fourth edition ... from the German by Daniël Koorders. Utrecht 1867.

33. The passage quoted was taken (with several small departures from the source text) from Fénelon’s Les aventures de Télémaque (The adventures of Telemachus). See Fénelon 1995, pp. 223-224 (book 10). Van Gogh added ‘avec amour’ (l. 77).

34. The sentence added in pencil was most likely written at the post office. It refers to the receipt of the postal order, which Vincent wanted to send back to Theo (ll. 14-15).