1. Mr van Gogh had received a call to serve in Helvoirt (see letter 469). He wrote to Theo: ‘We did write to you about the gift that the congregation gave me when I turned down Helvoirt; 210 guilders in a wallet so I can choose for myself?’ (FR b2263, 9 December 1884).
2. There are nine known still lifes dating from the period November 1884-April 1885. Cf. cat. Amsterdam 1999, pp. 78-83, cat. no. 9.
3. By ‘Gothic things’ Van Gogh must be referring to old-fashioned, typical artefacts and objects, possibly in the gothic style; later in the letter he talks of ‘really nice things’ (l. 45). A number of items from Hermans’s collection are listed in cat. Amsterdam 1999, p. 81, n. 12.
4. The nine smaller still lifes from this period all measure about 30 x 40 cm, which makes it difficult to determine which one Van Gogh meant. In view of the ‘antiquities’ depicted in them and the stylistic similarities, Vellekoop links this point in the text with F 52 / JH 535; F 58 / JH 531; F 64 / JH 537 and F 178r / JH 528. See cat. Amsterdam 1999, pp. 81-82, and n. 12.
[442] [959] [961]
5. Water mill at Gennep (F 1144a / JH 523 [2489]).
[2489]
6. Their brother Cor had been apprenticed to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann’s machine works in Helmond; he was also boarding there: see letter 443, n. 3.
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