Some time later, namely on 24 August 1890, Theo wrote to his mother and Willemien: ‘In a letter from V which we found, written immediately upon returning to Auvers after visiting us recently, he says’ [the rest is lacking] (FR b936). This must refer to the present letter, which was presumably reassembled only later. See Hulsker 1998, p. 49. Like Hulsker, Pickvance also thought that the sheet had not been sent. He initially dated it to about Monday, 7 July, but later described it as ‘perhaps a draft of a lost letter, possibly of about 15 July 1890’. However, Van Gogh is unlikely to have reacted so emotionally after a week had elapsed, especially after receiving a reassuring letter from Jo (see letter 898) and letter 900 of 14 July. Cf. exhib. cat. New York 1986, pp. 213, 292.