1. This larger version of Sorrow is unknown. See Van Heugten and Pabst 1995, pp. 38-48.

2. Study of a tree (F 933r / JH 142 ).

3. Theo had moved at the beginning of April; see letter 218, in which Vincent promises to send drawings to decorate Theo’s walls.

4. Theo turned 25 on 1 May.

5. The Study of a tree measures 50 x 69 cm.

a. This probably means ‘als retourzending’ (as a return shipment).

6. The drawing was done in black and white chalk, black ink, pencil and watercolour.

7. The hardness of pencils was (and still is) indicated by letters, B and H being the customary ones. Soft pencils were given a designation ranging (in increasing degrees of softness) from B to BBBBBB. The 1870 catalogue of the German firm A.W. Faber recommends these for ‘paysagistes’ (landscapists). Communicated by Renate Hilsenbeck, archivist of A.W. Faber-Castell GmbH & Co., Stein (Germany).

8. Both Jacob van Ruisdael and Jan van Goyen drew in black chalk and not in charcoal. It is no wonder that Van Gogh was mistaken about this, since it is difficult to see the difference, and he might have known their drawings only from reproductions.

9. Alexandre Calame mainly used charcoal for his portraits, especially those dating from his early years. Landscape drawings in charcoal – frequently in combination with gouache and (white) chalk – are to be found chiefly in his Carnet bleu. Gothard 1859 – Pilate 1861. See E. Rambert, Alexandre Calame. Sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris 1884, p. 36, and Valentina Anker, Alexandre Calame. Vie et oeuvre. Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint. Fribourg 1987, pp. 23, 294-302.

10. Which of Roelofs’s charcoal drawings Van Gogh had in mind can no longer be ascertained. Roelofs sold his work through C.M. van Gogh and Goupil, which perhaps explains how Van Gogh became familiar with his drawings.

11. Weissenbruch frequently used charcoal soaked in oil to make underdrawings. See Laanstra and Ooms 1992, p. 22.

12. This is a reference to Kee Vos.

b. where ... way: in English.

13. A saying. Perhaps Vincent is reminding Theo of something he himself said. Later on Vincent writes: ‘You yourself said to me: Where there is a will there is a way’ (letter 527).

c. Where ... way: in English.

14. The weather reports indicate that there were storms only on the nights of 29 and 30 April (KNMI); see also Date.

15. Read: ‘a square metre’.

16. The landlord was Adrianus Johannes van der Drift.

d. Meaning: ‘afscheiden door middel van een wand’ (to partition off by means of a wall).

17. The owner of the apartment Vincent hoped to move to was Pieter Willem de Zwart, master-mason and builder with headquarters in Voorburg. De Zwart had built the houses in Schenkstraat. See exhib. cat. The Hague 1990, pp. 19-22 , 24. His rental business was looked after by his son Michiel Antonie de Zwart. See also letter 243.

18. See letter 214 for a previous occasion on which Theo returned Vincent’s studies.

19. These drawings are not known.

20. For this advice, probably prompted by reading Edmond and Jules de Goncourt’s Gavarni, l’homme et l’oeuvre, see letter 216, n. 4.

21. Man sitting by a stove (‘The pauper’) (F 1116a / JH 139 ). A ‘boarder’ was a person living in a hostel or boarding-house at the community’s expense.

22. Old woman with a shawl and a walking-stick (F 913 /JH 109 ).

23. For drawings of ‘female figures’ from this period, see Sien with a cigar sitting on the floor near the stove (F 898 / JH 141) and the drawings mentioned in n. 24.

e. Meaning: ‘rustig’ (calmly).

24. Cf. Woman in a dark dress (F 936 / JH 140); Seated woman (F 935 / JH 143); Seated woman (F 937 / JH 144); and Woman sewing (F 932 / JH 145 ). Merino is a lightly twilled material produced from the combing wool of merino sheep.

25. The quotation marks indicate that this is direct speech (or a quotation). The source is unknown.