1. Cor, Willemien, Lies and Theo were in Etten on 21 May; Anna and Vincent, who were both living in England, could not attend the celebration.

2. Prov. 10:5, Prov. 17:2 and Prov. 19:26.

3. Cf. 1 Cor. 13:7.

4. The enclosed drawing was View of Royal Road, Ramsgate (F Juv. XXVII / JH Juv. 5). See cat. Amsterdam 1996, p. 60, cat. no. 8. Van Gogh also sent ‘a nice little drawing of his house’ to his parents (FR b2752).

5. The oil stain is visible at the lower right.

6. Uncle Jan (Johannes) van Gogh.