2. There are a number of works by Hippolyte Adolphe Taine in which Van Gogh could have encountered passages from Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution. The most likely one is Taine’s Histoire de la littérature anglaise (1863-1864), in which the author quotes The French Revolution in various places. The quotations occur in the fifth volume, Les contemporains (chapter 4 of which treats Carlyle), which was not added to the publication until the second edition. The 1874 Paris edition (the third) contains excerpts from The French Revolution (see Taine 1874, vol. 5, pp. 235-236, 319-321). Cf. Hippolyte Taine, Introduction à l’histoire de la littérature anglaise. Ed. H.B. Charlton. Manchester 1936, p. 23. Taine’s L’idéalisme anglais. Etude sur Carlyle (1864) also contains several quotations from The French Revolution (pp. 15-17, 165-167).

Vincent’s second poetry album for Theo (1875, see letter 029, n. 2) also contains seven fragments from Carlyle’s works, one of them (the sixth quotation) from Carlyle’s The French Revolution. However, when Van Gogh copied these fragments in English, he most probably copied them from Taine’s Histoire de la littérature anglaise, vol. 5, Les contemporains. In fact, Van Gogh’s choice (cuts and ellipses) coincides with Taine’s choice in all fragments, quoted in English in Taine’s footnotes. See Guzzoni 2020, p. 214 (n. 18), and Pabst 1988, p. 25.

3. These episodes from the Eighty Years’ War appear in J.L. Motley, The rise of the Dutch Republic (1865), which was reprinted a number of times. It is possible that Van Gogh quoted from the Dutch translation, De opkomst van de Nederlandsche Republiek. With an introduction and notes by R.C. Bakhuizen van den Brink. 3 vols. The Hague 1859-1860, which he presumably knew (see letter 43, n. 2). There were several abridged editions, most of them intended for young readers, such as Hoe er gestreden werd en waarom! Tafereelen van burgertrouw en heldenmoed. The Hague n.d. [1861]. It is also possible that Van Gogh owned smaller, inexpensive versions; other books which his tutor Mendes required him to read were also adapted for young readers.

4. For Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress, see letter letters 96, n. 17 and 99, n. 22.

6. Cf. Job 7:1 (worded differently in KJ).

7. Quoted from the poem ‘Up-hill’ by Christina Georgina Rossetti; see letter 54, n. 1.

8. This seems to be a quotation (Van Gogh uses this phrase again in letters 406 and 694), but the source has not been traced.

12. The conscience is assigned a central place in some Christian traditions, such as the pietistic Protestant movements. Free-thinking or esoteric streams, which dismissed the dogma and pretence of the supposed doctrinal authority of established religious institutions, often saw the conscience as the embodiment of man’s natural morality. The wording seems to be connected with the influence of ‘ethical theology’, which was on the rise in the Netherlands around the mid-nineteenth century, owing in particular to the work of Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet. See Cornelis Bezemer, Het christelijk geweten bij Alexandre Vinet. Kampen 1966. This idea of the conscience being an infallible moral compass implanted by God is mentioned by Van Gogh again in letters 294, 336 and 401.

17. Biblical; cf. also John 8:12.

19. Theo must have written to Vincent about Franz Kugler, Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen. Gezeichnet von Adolph Menzel. Leipzig 1840-1842, revised editions published in 1856 and 1860. Cf. Franz Kugler, Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen. Facsimile edition (Leipzig 1856). Dortmund 1977. This book, for which Menzel made numerous illustrations, was translated into a number of languages, including French (1843) and English (1845). The Dutch translation is F. Kugler, Geschiedenis van Frederik den Groote. Illustrated by A. Menzel. 2 vols. The Hague 1843-1845.

20. A wood engraving (Van Gogh often calls them ‘woodcut’) of La bergerie (The sheepfold) by Jacque has not been traced; the depiction probably looked something like the photogravure La bergerie ou Le grand troupeau (The sheepfold or The large flock) after Charles Emile Jacque (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 990

21. The lithograph of De oude priester (The old priest) by Adolf Carel Nunnink after a painting by Louise Eugénie Steffens, in Kunstkronijk 5 (1864), NS, no. 21. Ill. 1353

. The depiction displays a close resemblance to Steffens’s painting Consolation of 1863 (present whereabouts unknown; sold at auction at Sotheby’s, Mak van Waay, 21 February 1983). Ill. 1856

22. Claude Jacquand, L’arrivée du Vicaire. Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même (The arrival of the vicar. Charity begins at home), lithographed by Alphonse Léon Noël (1846). ‘Carte de visite’ no. 403 in the Goupil catalogue of 1864 (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 989

23. Gustave Doré, The neophyte, 1866 (Westwood, UCLA Hammer Museum, California), exhibited at the 1868 Salon (no. 817). There is another version of this painting (Norfolk, Chrysler Museum, Virginia) that has only one row of monks. This young monk is also known from drawings, etchings and a lithograph. See Annie Renonciat, La vie et l’oeuvre de Gustave Doré. Paris 1983, pp. 170-171. A photograph was published in René Delorme, Gustave Doré. Peintre, sculpteur, dessinateur et graveur. Photographs by Goupil & Cie. Librairie d’Art. Ludovic Baschet. Paris 1879, [p. 64]. Ill. 791

24. Two days later Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about Vincent: ‘He appears to derive satisfaction from his work ... It is good that he keeps his courage up’ (FR b2564, 1 November 1877).

25. Van Gogh himself could have written In medio noctis vim suam lux exerit below a representation of a nocturnal scene – at this time he often provided prints with inscriptions (cf. Verzamelde brieven 1973, vol. 1, p. 171 and vol. 4, p. 330) – or he might have had a copy on which the text was already added (cf. the Pilgrims at Emmaus from Goupil’s list, below which a text from Luke is inscribed; letters 42, n. 9 and 245, n. 3). Artists added such inscriptions themselves: Millet, for example, supplied one of his drawings with an inscription from Luke in Latin. See Sensier 1881, p. 34.

26. Cf. John 1:5 and 2 Cor. 4:6.

27. For Edouard Frère, A cooper, see letter 37, n. 21.

28. This passage combines words from a sermon, preached by the French minister Eugène Bersier in 1867 in Amsterdam, and part of Isa. 38:15. Bersier speaks of ‘l’âme remplie d’amertume’ (the soul filled with bitterness) and about Paul’s being ‘rempli d’une sainte amertume’ (filled with a holy bitterness) (Les ruines de Jérusalem. Paris 1867, pp. 4, 9); the phrases ‘je passerai’ (I shall go), ‘toutes les années de ma vie’ (all my years) and ‘dans l’amertume de mon âme’ (in the bitterness of my soul) were taken from Isa. 38.

30. Cf. Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 1:12 and Eph. 6:5.

32. Van Gogh added this sentence after beginning the next sentence; up to ‘Ate’ (the first word of the following sentence; l. 80) his writing was large, but after this noticeably smaller.

33. What is meant are pickled vegetables, such as carrots and gherkins, which are often eaten in Amsterdam.

35. Matt. 5:14, John 8:12 and John 9:5.

37. Phil. 3:12 and Phil. 3:14.

38. Matt. 13:43. Appearing in the Vulgate as ‘tunc iusti fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris eorum’.

40. Matt. 22:30 and Mark 12:25.

42. Rev. 7:17 and Rev. 21:4.

45. This expression of Mr van Gogh, which Vincent quotes frequently, could have been derived from hymn 56:1 and hymn 56:9.

48. An allusion to Christ’s crown of thorns, in Matt. 27:29, Mark 15:17, John 19:2 and John 19:5.

49. Joseph Swain was London’s most prominent wood engraver. From 1844-1900 he supervised the production of the illustrations appearing in Punch and made numerous woodcuts after Millais, Sandys, Whistler, Keene and others. He took over the premises at 6 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, EC, which he continued to occupy for the next 40 years. See Engen 1985, p. 251.

50. The offices of The Illustrated London News and The Graphic were both located at 190 Strand. In letter 307, Van Gogh remarked: ‘More than 10 years ago I used to go every week to the display case of the printer of The Graphic and London News in London to see the weekly publications’.

51. The family business of Seeley & Co was a publishing house and adjoining bookshop, located (in 1877) at 54 Fleet Street. The magazine Portfolio, published there from 1870, was illustrated by the more modern methods of engraving. See Anonymous, ‘The House of Seeley’, The Bookman 26 (April - September 1904), pp. 13-17.

52. For Booksellers’ Row, see letter 122, n. 6.

53. The Household Edition of The works of Charles Dickens was published between 1871 and 1879 by both Chapman and Hall in London and Harper and Brothers in New York. This illustrated edition consisted of 22 volumes, 21 of which were novels and one The life of Charles Dickens by John Forster.

54. Chandos Classics was a popular, extensive series of works considered to be literary classics, published by Frederick Warne and Co., London and New York.

55. Van Gogh is perhaps referring to Acts 19 and Acts 20, even though the city of Ephesus is mentioned therein only very briefly. The burning of books mentioned in Acts 19:19 might have prompted Van Gogh to make the link.

56. Faubourg St-Germain is a district in the centre of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine.

57. Acts 2:46, Eph. 6:5 and Col. 3:22.

59. Charles Frédéric Henriet, C. Daubigny et son oeuvre gravé. Paris 1875. The detailed introduction gives an overview of the career of Charles-François Daubigny as a painter and engraver. It is followed by catalogues of his etchings, his glass clichés and the works he exhibited at the Salon. The book contains nine engravings by and after Daubigny.

60. Claas Meyboom was at that time lieutenant at sea of the second class. See ‘In memoriam Claas Meyboom’, Marineblad. Orgaan der Marine-vereeniging 26 (1911-1912), pp. 337-339. Margreet, who was engaged to Paul Stricker, has been mentioned in previous letters.

61. This young Middelbeek has not been identified.

62. This could refer either to the bookshop of J.M. Schalekamp at Haarlemmerstraat 69 or the bookshop belonging to the firm of Schalekamp, Van de Grampel & Bakker at Spuistraat 157-159, which specialized in textbooks and had an extensive depot. See Kruseman 1886, pp. 324-325 and Adresboeken 1877-1878.

63. The bookshop of C.L. Brinkman at Hartenstraat 24.

64. With a view to improving elementary education in the Netherlands, the Nederlandsch Onderwijzers-Genootschap (Dutch Teachers’ Association) published an atlas consisting of 96 loose-leaf school maps costing 5 cents apiece, made by P.H. Witkamp, J. ter Gouw and W. Degenhardt. The maps, both historical and current, were published and sold by C.L. Brinkman. See H.F. Boer and A. Heinsius, Het Nederlandsch Onderwijzers-genootschap en zijne instellingen, 1842-1892. Amsterdam 1892, pp. 10, 116.

65. On Sunday, 28 October, the Rev. J.P. Hasebroek conducted the early service held at 7.30 a.m. in the Zuiderkerk.

66. The Oude Walenkerk (Eglise Wallonne) – the old Walloon church, at which services were held in French – in Walenplein, near the Oudezijds Achterburgwal.

67. The Rev. Ferdinand Henri Gagnebin was an orthodox Protestant.

69. Cf. the portrait photograph of F.H. Gagnebin (SAAm). Ill. 1857

71. Regarding Charles Louis Lucien Muller, The last victims of the terror

, see letter 132, n. 21.

72. François Claudius Compte-Calix’s Les amies de pension (The women of the boarding house) was included in various series published by Goupil, including the ‘Galerie photographique’, ‘Musée Goupil’ and ‘Carte-album’ (no. 100) (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 700

73. In the autumn of 1877, Jozef Israëls, The potato harvest, 1877 (present whereabouts unknown) was on display at Goupil’s in The Hague under the title Bringing in the first crop. Ill. 185

. See exhib. cat. Groningen 1999, pp. 196-197, cat. no. 34a. Sold at auction at Christie’s (New York), 29 October 1987, no. 166.

74. It is not known which work by Israëls Vincent is referring to here.

75. Which painting Vincent is referring to here is not known. For an early example of this motif, see Sheep in Dekkersduin of 1874 (Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum), which was bought in 1889 from the collection of Uncle Vincent van Gogh.

76. Uncle Vincent van Gogh, who lived in Princenhage, had long been suffering from the effects of bronchitis.

a. This remark refers to the letter sent that same day, since by this time Gladwell had been back in Paris for around ten days (see letter 132).

77. See letter 132, notes 7-8, regarding this request.

78. Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max, Talitha cumi; The raising of Jairus’ daughter, 1875 (Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Lord Atholstan). Ill. 1135

. The story depicted is told in Mark 5:22-43 and Luke 8:40-56, which tell how Christ raised the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum from the dead. Max gave the title Reconvalescent to The nun in the convent garden, 1869 (Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle). Ill. 1134