1. On 24 March Vincent had asked Theo to send, before leaving for the Netherlands, 11 tubes of paint. See letter 752.

2. From 23 February 1889 until 1 June 1889, Jean Louis Forain wrote and illustrated Le Fifre, a magazine he also published, which appeared weekly in an edition of only a few copies. A total of 15 issues were published.

A few issues from 1889, the first year of publication, have been preserved in the Van Gogh family estate; these are nos. 3 (9 March), 5 (23 March), 9 (20 April), 10 (27 April), 11 (4 May) and 12 (11 May). Each issue consists of one large folded sheet. One example by way of illustration: the title-page of the third issue, ‘Laissez courir les frais...’ (‘Hang the expense...’), Le Fifre. Journal Hebdomadaire Illustré par J.-L. Forain 1 (9 March 1889), no. 3. Ill. 849

.

3. Roulin had been transferred to Marseille at the end of January; see letter 736, n. 14. ‘Carry burdens’ could be intended literally: as a railway postman, Roulin was responsible for loading and unloading the postbags at each station.

4. In 1889 Easter fell on 21 April.

5. The gas works were located between the Roubine du Roi canal and the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway line.

6. La Crau with peach trees in blossom (F 514 / JH 1681

).

7. The article ‘Claude Monet’ by Octave Mirbeau had appeared in Le Figaro (p. 1) on 10 March 1889. In this very positive article Mirbeau praised the originality of Monet, whose only teacher was nature. At first his art was controversial, but now his talent had been recognized: ‘his imposing and learned simplicity ... his implacable harmony’ (sa grandiose et savante simplicité ... son implacable harmonie). Mirbeau praises the way Monet brings nature to life in his paintings, and describes how he works outside – day in, day out, come rain or shine.

The article also mentioned the exhibition of Monet’s paintings held at Boussod, Valadon & Cie (see letter 749, n. 3). Theo wrote to Jo Bonger on 11 March 1889 that this article was of great importance to the reputation of Monet and the Impressionists, and that it had exerted a positive influence on the number of visitors to his exhibition (FR b2046). See Brief happiness 1999, p. 212.

8. Madame Roulin and her children were staying with her mother in Lambesc (see letter 775).

9. For Dickens’s Contes de Noël, see letter 753, n. 3.

10. Roulin celebrated his 48th birthday on 4 April.