1. Gauguin, who had already been living on credit for three months, had asked Theo for help in a letter of 22 May (FR b841 and GAC 2). Theo had evidently written to Vincent about it.

2. On 6 December 1865 Gauguin signed on as a junior officer in the merchant navy aboard the Luzitano, in which he served for two three-month trips to Brazil; he then spent thirteen months, from 27 October 1866, sailing around the world as a second lieutenant on the Chili. On 22 January 1868 he joined the French navy; he left the service on 23 April 1873. See exhib. cat. Washington 1988, pp. 3-4.

3. Bernard was supposed to be going to Algeria to do his military service, and Van Gogh wanted to meet him in Marseille; see letters 575 and 599.

4. We know, because Theo recommended his doctor to him, that Koning initially had problems with his health. See letter 578, n. 9. As we can deduce from a letter from Koning to Theo, they took their leave of each other at the Gare du Nord on 28 May 1888. Koning was then ‘in an anything but cheerful mood’; he travelled back to Winschoten via Bruges, Ghent, Dordrecht and Rotterdam, arriving home on 2 June (FR b1077).

a. Read: ‘une autre satisfaction’.

5. Tersteeg’s visit to Paris took place in the first half of June; see letter 625.

6. Vincent sent these proposals to Theo (ll. 112 ff.), who did not altogether approve of them, so a new version of the letter had to be written (see letter 621). Vincent had moreover already written to Gauguin (see letter 617). Neither letter is known.

7. Van Gogh had tried to persuade Russell to buy work from Gauguin; see letter 582, n. 2. So far it had not produced a result. We do not know which works Russell bought from Guillaumin and Bernard.

8. See for the Yellow House: letter 602, n. 3.

9. After ‘responsibility’ Van Gogh crossed out: ‘He’ll just assure you that what I say about the money is true, just as I wrote to you. So you’ll be dealing with me’ (Seulement il t’assurera que ce que je te dis pour l’argent est vrai ainsi que je te l’écris. Tu traiterais ainsi avec moi).