1. Vincent had already described Tersteeg as ‘an elder brother’ in letter 208.

2. Van Gogh left his job at Goupil’s on 1 April 1876 (FR b2227).

a. The expression is actually ‘iemand een hart onder de riem steken’ and means ‘to encourage someone’, ‘to lend someone moral support’. See also letter 176.

3. On 20 August 1880 Van Gogh had written to Tersteeg to ask if he could borrow Charles Bargue’s Exercices au fusain (see letter 156). Tersteeg sent two more textbooks of his own accord.

4. For the paint-box Tersteeg had sent in 1879, see letter 153.

5. Van Gogh stayed in Brussels from October 1880 to April 1881, during which time he had been in touch with Tersteeg (cf. also letter 164).

6. Burn Smeeton and Auguste Tilly formed a partnership in Paris (see letter 165).

7. Van Gogh wrote earlier that Mauve had thought him a ‘bloody bore’ (see letter 191).

b. Meaning: ‘doet net alsof hij van niets weet’ (pretends to know nothing).

8. An unknown version of Sorrow and the unknown drawing ‘Kitchen gardens in Laan van Meerdervoort’.