1. On the so-called Zeekant, on the south side of the coast at Scheveningen, the ‘Obelisk in memory of 1813’ had been unveiled in 1865. It was designed by J.M. van der Made and commemorated the return of the Prince of Orange (later King William i), who had gone into exile in England after the French invasion of the Netherlands in 1795. See Jeroen van Zanten, ‘Het strand van Scheveningen. De aankomst van koning Willem i op 30 november 1813’, Plaatsen van herinnering. Nederland in de negentiende eeuw. Ed. Jan Bank and Marita Mathijsen. Amsterdam 2006, pp. 60-71.

2. Neither the scratch nor the painting of this group of figures on the beach is known; cf. also Arrangement.

3. This painted ‘seascape’ study is not known.

4. Four people and a baby on a bench (F 951 / JH 197 ). Vincent had sent Theo the smaller watercolour Four people on a bench (F - / JH 195): see letter 262.

5. This watercolour of women in the garden of the hospital is not known.

6. This watercolour of the Geest district is not known.

7. This is the ‘scratch’ mentioned in l. 30.

8. ‘Moutonner’ means ‘Grouping in the correct way and distinctly figures who stand together like a flock of sheep (moutons),’ as Van Gogh himself explains.

9. It is unclear which study of ladies and gentlemen on the beach is meant. It may have been the pen drawing People strolling on the beach (F 980 / JH 204) – cf. in this connection the watercolour People strolling on the beach (F 1038 / JH 228).