1. Since January, Vincent had been working as an evangelist, giving Bible readings, teaching and visiting the sick. See letter 150, n. 2.

2. Theo had received an offer to work for Goupil in Paris for six weeks. On 28 May, Mr van Gogh had reacted with surprise to the news. A day later Theo discussed the matter with H.G. Tersteeg (FR b2480). Although his father was disappointed at the low salary, he encouraged him none the less (FR b2481 and b2482).

3. Katwijk is a fishing village to the north of Scheveningen.

a. Variant of ‘iewers’, which means ‘somewhere’. Otherwise used only in letter 149.

4. Mrs van Gogh went to Paris to visit Uncle Vincent, who was ill. She left Etten on 26 May and was back home on 2 July. She must therefore have visited Vincent in Mons at the end of June (FR b2478 and b2484). On 21 May, several days before her departure, she reported from Etten: ‘Vincent wrote that if I come he would do his best to make drawings of costumes and tools and bring them with him, he wrote. How happy I should be to see him and to have him here, just like he is, but he is lacking such a great deal, though he himself made this choice’ (FR b2476, to Theo).

5. It is possible that Van Gogh wrote ‘afgeweerd’ (warded off) instead of ‘afgewend’ (averted).

6. Frans Soek died shortly before 18 April 1879 (the Archives of the Paris Prefecture of Police has no information on foreigners residing in the city before 1900). Mrs van Gogh wrote on 18 April to Theo: ‘How heart-rending, that Soek, how young he was, how much his wife has lost, fortunately she’s a clever woman’ (FR b2467; also FR b2468-2469).

7. For the Marcasse, see letter 151, n. 2. Van Gogh had therefore walked in a north-westerly direction, towards Hornu-Petit-Wasmes.

8. An allusion to the story of Noah’s ark in the book of Genesis; cf. also Luke 17:24-27. Jean Baptiste Denis, in whose house Van Gogh lodged, recalled: ‘On a very hot day a violent storm was unleashed over our area. What did our friend do he went to stand in the middle of the fields to look at God’s great wonders and in that way coming back soaked to the skin.’ (Par un jour de fort chaleur un violan orage fut déchainer sur notre régions. Que fi notre ami il alla se placer en plain champs pour regardé les grandes merveilles du Dieu et ainsi revenant mouillé jusque os.) See Verzamelde brieven 1973, vol. 1, p. 226.

9. Uncle Tom’s cabin: or life among the lowly (1851-1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe was reprinted numerous times and became a huge success. It is the story of Uncle Tom, a black slave whose master – Mr Shelby, a Kentucky plantation owner – is forced to sell him owing to financial difficulties. The humble, devout, longsuffering Tom eventually ends up in the hands of a brutal plantation owner named Simon Legree, who treats him so badly that he dies.

10. This expression can be traced to a statement made by Francis Bacon in his Descriptio globi intellectualis (chapter 2): ‘Ars sive additus rebus Homo’, later also known in the version ‘Ars est homo, additus naturae’. See The works of Francis Bacon, vol. 3,2: Philosophical works. Ed. James Spedding et al. London 1887, p. 731. It is possible that Gogh knew the line – which was already well known in his day – through Charles Blanc, Grammaire des arts du dessin; it also occurs in the artists’ novel Manette Salomon (1867) by the Goncourt brothers, though it is not certain that Van Gogh had read these books by this time. See Blanc 1870, p. 18 and Goncourt 1996, chapter 154, p. 541. Van Gogh first mentions Blanc’s book in letter 454, and Manette Salomon only in letter 800.

11. Cf. Rev. 21:5.

12. It is not clear which book this refers to.

13. Various depictions of readers by Ernest Meissonier are known. Since Van Gogh speaks of an etching, it could be Le liseur (The reader) by Paul Adolphe Rajon after Meissonier, which was published by Boussod, Valadon & Cie. Ill. 1884 . Cf. Larroumet, Meissonier, p. 82 and Burty 1866, p. 86. It is also possible that the print derives from The reader in white, 1857 (Paris, Musée d’Orsay). In letter 686 he mentions the print by Jules Jacquemart, an engraving after Meissonier’s The reader, 1856 (Paris, BNF, Cabinet des Estampes). Ill. 249 . Cf. also letter 686, n. 7, and Dorn 1990, p. 235 (n. 45).

14. Jean-Baptiste Denis had four sons, one of whom – Jean – married Palmyre Harmegnies on 16 July 1879. Her father, Jean-Baptiste Harmegnies, was the former mine foreman whom Van Gogh used to visit. He lived in rue du Coron in Dour (ACCD).

15. Two books by Ernest Legouvé were published under the collective title Les pères et les enfants au xixe siècle; the individual volumes were titled Enfance et adolescence (1867) and La jeunesse (1869). In both educational works (with imaginary conversations), Legouvé discusses in detail how to build up a good relationship, full of mutual understanding, between parents and children. The books were reprinted several times in the nineteenth century.

b. Meaning: ‘stap hier uit’ (stop off here), ‘Onderbreek je reis’ (interrupt your journey).

16. Although Vincent was looking forward to his brother’s visit, Theo did not go to Paris until October. On 2 July 1879, Mrs van Gogh gave Theo a frank account of her visit, told him about the last letter from Wasmes, and asked him to tell Vincent that his departure for Paris had been delayed: ‘A letter from Vincent this week, we continue to worry about him, poor chap. He felt such sorrow after our parting, as though it were for the first time but could also be the last time, he wrote shortly after my visit to him. Now there had been a meeting, however, but no one had said anything to him, though they did before, but those had been criticisms. We tell ourselves they want to wait and see, but if he doesn’t conform and adhere to the conventions, as requested, he cannot be appointed. If he would just get a grip on himself for once, how much could still be put to rights. Poor chap, what a difficult, young life with so little fulfilment and so much deprivation, what will become of him? Do write to him again, just tell him that I told you about him and his situation, his Bible-reading and the friendly reception the people gave him for his own sake, that if he yields on minor issues and forces himself to act, to live, and to learn to dress like a simple, ordinary person, he would indeed be able to earn his living being useful to others, giving us joy, visiting his family from time to time and making a good impression, letting his light shine for people, perhaps it would help. Rouse his good will and try to support him. Oh we know it all so well, and what will become of him? You must tell him you won’t be going to Paris until later’ (FR b2484). Mr van Gogh’s letter, written the same day, also speaks of Vincent’s rigidity and intransigence, which is so great that he fears ‘things will go amiss’. The letter reveals that Uncle Vincent was the one who decided when Theo would leave for Paris (FR b2485).