3. A number of portraits of Ludwig Uhland are known, including the one by C. Schuler in Gedichte (1842) and a youthful likeness of 1818, made by ‘Worff’, which appeared in the front of Uhlands Tagebuch of 1898, after which engravings or etchings had no doubt previously been made.

4. A portrait of H.C. Andersen had been published in, for example, Sprookjens en verhalen van H.C. Andersen in dichtmaat naverteld door J.J.L. ten Kate (1868) and in De Tijd of 15 October 1846. In March 1866, Andersen had portrait photographs made by the Amsterdam photographers Wegner and Mottu, two of which were intended for sale. See Hans Reeser, Andersen op reis door Nederland. Zutphen 1976, pp. 20, 44, 97, 107, 120 (facing p. 64 is the earliest daguerreotype portrait of him, dating from c. 1850); and Bjørn Ochsner, Fotografier af H.C. Andersen. Odense 1957.

5. There were a number of portrait prints of Dickens in circulation, including the etching made by H.K. Browne for Court Magazine (1837); the stipple engraving by J.C. Armytage (1844), after M. Gillies of c. 1843; the lithograph by C. Baugniet (1858), and various other prints, some made after photographs. See Dictionary of British portraiture. Ed. Richard Ormond and Malcolm Rogers. 4 vols. London 1981, vol. 3, pp. 55-56, and Everyone in Dickens. Ed. George Newlin. 3 vols. Westport (Connecticut) 1995.

6. A number of portraits of J.J.L. ten Kate were known, including engravings by J.P. de Lange and D.J. Sluyter, as well as lithographs by A.J. Ehnle, J.P. Berghaus, H. Dilcher and ‘F.W.S.’. The last two lithographs were printed in Amsterdam (The Hague, Iconografisch Bureau).

7. Regarding Ten Kate’s sermon at the Eilandskerk, see letter 126, n. 30.

8. On Sunday, 12 August, J.P. Stricker preached at the 10 a.m. service in the Oudezijdskapel.

9. ‘La mort et le bûcheron’, Jean de la Fontaine, Fables, i, 16.

10. Fontaine 1974, vol. 1, pp. 72-73.

11. Ps. 92:2-3 and cf. 1 Chron. 23:30.

12. Although there is no explicit mention of suicide, dry bread or beer in Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby, ‘The story of the Baron of Grogzwig’ (chapter 6), Van Gogh is probably referring here to the following passage (headed ‘The genius of despair and suicide’): ‘And my advice to all men is, that if ever they become hipped and melancholy from similar causes (as very many men do), they look at both sides of the question, applying a magnifying glass to the best one; and if they still feel tempted to retire without leave, that they smoke a large pipe and drink a full bottle first, and profit by the laudable example of the Baron of Grogzwig.’ See The life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Introduction by Dame Sybil Thorndike. Oxford etc. 1981, pp. 74-75. Cf. also letter 764.

13. With regard to Rembrandt’s Pilgrims at Emmaus

, see letter 34, n. 5.

14. For the Jewish quarter, see letter 120, n. 37.

15. The Oude Kerk in Oude Kerksplein and the Zuiderkerk in Zanddwarsstraat, both situated in the heart of the city.

16. Lange and Korte Niezel connect Warmoesstraat and Oudezijds Voor- en Achterburgwal.

17. Regarding this meeting with Theo, see letter 103.

18. The parables and miracles told of in the Gospels.

19. Taken from Nicolas Boileau Despréaux, L’art poétique, Chant 1, 173. The line was derived from Horace, Ars poetica, 292-294. See L’art poétique de Boileau. Ed. Henri Bénac. Paris 1946, pp. 22-23.

20. Taken from the fable ‘Le laboureur et ses enfants’ by Jean de la Fontaine, which Van Gogh quotes immediately after this; he quotes the opening lines again in letter 189.

22. Jean de la Fontaine, Fables, v, 9. Fontaine 1974, vol. 1, pp. 174-175; this fable stems from Aesop.

a. ‘Faire l’août’ means ‘rentrer la moisson’, meaning ‘to harvest’, ‘to bring in the harvest’ (note to this fable).

23. Jean de la Fontaine, Fables, i, 22. Fontaine 1974, vol. 1, pp. 78-79; the fable ‘Le chêne et le roseau’ stems from Aesop.

24. A saying possibly derived from Oliver Goldsmith, She stoops to conquer, or the mistakes of a night (London 1773), one of England’s most popular comedies, which was often performed and reprinted in the nineteenth century. See Oliver Goldsmith, She stoops to conquer. Ed. Tom Davis. London and New York 1979, p. xv. The Illustrated London News 61 (28 December 1872) contained on p. 625 an engraving after Matthew White Ridley, ‘She stoops to conquer’.

25. Regarding this money, see letter 126.

26. For this exhibition, see letter 125, n. 3.

27. Regarding Matthijs Maris, Before going to school

, see letter 114, n. 7.

28. For Matthijs Maris, A baptism

, see letter 37, n. 15.

29. For Luis Ruipérez, The imitation of Jesus Christ

, see letter 40, n. 16.

30. On Thursday, 16 August 1877, Hendrik Jacob Eerligh van Gogh (the son of Uncle Jan) married Maria (Marie) Elisabeth Vos.

31. Most likely the Pieterskerk, located behind the cathedral.

32. The canons’ house near the cathedral was used as the Academiegebouw (Academy building) from 1867 onwards (the current building dates from 1891-1894). Between the cathedral and this group of buildings, which included the Groot Auditorium, the Oude Kapittelzaal, the Senaatszaal and smaller auditorium and rooms, lay a medieval cloister garden, which explains why Van Gogh was prompted to compare it to the cloisters of Westminster Abbey in London. Cf. G.W. Kernkamp, De Utrechtse Universiteit 1636-1936. 2 vols. Utrecht 1936, vol. 1, pp. 29-32, 95.

33. Johanna (Anna) Elisabeth van Gogh, who married Johannes Adriaan Tak in 1867, was Vincent’s cousin and the groom’s eldest sister.

35. On 22 August, Mrs van Gogh told Theo of the Strickers’ dismay. For Willemien, too, ‘who simply adored Margreet and had such feelings of friendship for her’, it was, according to Mrs van Gogh, a ‘terrible disappointment’ (FR b2552).