1. Regarding Mauve’s plan to visit Etten, see letters 181 and 189. In fact, the Strickers’ rejection of Vincent also influenced his decision to leave Amsterdam and go to The Hague.

2. Still life with an earthenware pot and clogs (F 63 / JH 920 ). See cat. Amsterdam 1999, p. 31 (n. 4).

3. The boarding-house must therefore have been close to Uilebomen 198 (now the Zuid-Oost-Buitensingel) in The Hague, where Mauve was living at the time.

a. Meaning: ‘directe’ (candid), ‘onopgesmukte’ (plain-spoken).

4. Van Gogh had spent three days in Amsterdam, hoping to see Kee Vos (see letter 193). ‘Meanwhile’ is an ironical reference to a remark made by Uncle Stricker (see letter 180).

5. This saying originated with Theo; see letter 182.

b. Meaning: ‘opduiken’ (turn up, crop up).

6. Willemien, who was 19 at the time, had meanwhile moved to Haarlem and was keeping Vincent up to date regarding Kee (see letter 187).

7. Weissenbruch’s nickname was ‘De vrolijke Weiss’ (The merry tune); see letter 11, n. 17.