1. Van Rappard lived at rue Lombard 17, around the corner from Zuidstraat, where the Academie voor Schone Kunsten was housed. The enrolment register shows that Van Rappard attended the 1880-81 and 1881-82 courses. That makes it very unlikely that he attended the Academie in Sint Joost, as was previously thought; see exhib. cat. Amsterdam 1974, p. 12.

2. Pharisees in the sense of hypocritical moralists.

3. Joseph Stallaert was the principal teacher of painting and drawing at the Brussels Academy. See exhib. cat. Brussels 1987, pp. 228-229. Van Gogh’s impression of Stallaert must have been based on a meeting that took place when he registered as a student at the academy in Brussels. See letter 160.

4. Van Gogh uses the term ‘type’ – as he will often do later – in the sense of ‘exemplary figure’, someone who displays the traits epitomizing a certain sort of person, in this case ‘the’ academicians.

5. Proverbial expression; cf. Matt. 7:3-5 and Luke 6:41-42.

6. The elaboration on these words in letter 179 (i.e. that such miseries are amusing if written about in a book) suggests that the expression is based on the title of the popular, humorous book Petites misères de la vie humaine by Old Nick and Grandville (1843). Van Gogh will repeat this saying and variations thereof many times in subsequent letters.

7. Cf. Jer. 32:19.

8. For the diggers from the Etten period, see letter 172, nn. 1 and 2.

9. Van Rappard had visited Etten before going to Brussels; see letter 179.

10. Boy cutting grass with a sickle (F 851 / JH 61 ).

11. There is no known drawing of a man and woman sitting together by the fire. If Van Gogh is referring to separate drawings, the drawing of the woman could be Woman sitting at the fireside (F 1216 / JH 64) and the drawing of the man Man sitting at the fireside, reading (F 897 / JH 63), though he says nothing about the models engaging in any activity.

12. This drawing, made by Van Rappard during his stay in Etten, is Reader (Utrecht, Centraal Museum). Ill. 1902 .