a. Read ‘bij lange na’ (far from).

b. Meaning: ‘zich goed leent’ (lends itself well).

1. Possibly Edge of a wood (F 903 / JH 12 ), though Van Gogh frequently drew in the Liesbos.

2. See Date as to the unusually hot summer.

3. Three drawings after the Holbeins in Bargue’s Cours de dessin (Modèles d’après les maîtres) are known; the one referred to here is probably Daughter of Jacob Meyer, after Holbein (F 833 / JH 13 ). See letter 160, n. 12.

4. Two of these drawings presumably belonged to the above-mentioned copies after portrait photographs. The identification of the sitter in Portrait, possibly of Willemien van Gogh (F 849 / JH 11 ) is not undisputed. The other drawing is Vincent van Gogh, the artist’s grandfather (F 876 / JH 14 ). Hulsker thinks it unlikely that this portrait was made after a photograph. See cat. Amsterdam 1996, pp. 86-89, cat. no. 18.