1. Two photographs of weavers have survived as ‘cartes de visite’: they are Weaver (F 30 / JH 479 ) and Weaver standing in front of his loom (F 33 / JH 489 ). See exhib. cat. Vienna 1996, pp. 176-177, cat. nos. 60-61. Vincent originally sent larger prints since he later wrote: ‘Here are a couple of smaller photos of the studies of which you already have the larger ones’ (letter 467).

2. Van Gogh sent these two photographs with letter 467. After ‘Hermans’ he crossed out the following unfinished sentence: ‘It would cause me great sorrow if you continued to be one of those’ (Het zou me zeer leed doen als gij bleeft hooren onder degenen).

3. The German sculptor Johan Theodore Stracké had been living in the ‘Koninklijke school voor Nuttige en Beeldende kunsten’ (Royal School for Applied and Fine Arts), at number 173 Sint Jorisstraat (district G) in ’s-Hertogenbosch since 1876. He was the principal and he also taught modelling and life drawing, on which a great deal of importance was placed. This secondary education (which also included evening classes) was free of charge until 1882. See De Koninklijke School herdacht. Leermeesters uit de periode 1855-1936. Exhib. cat. Den Bosch (Museum Slager), 1993. ’s-Hertogenbosch 1993 and GAS.

4. George Breitner received money from an unknown benefactor which enabled him to spend the months of May to November 1884 in Paris. He stayed at Fernand Cormon’s studio for a month and then rented a studio of his own. See Breitner brieven 1970, p. 77 (note 54.5), and exhib. cat. Amsterdam 1994-2, p. 12.

5. Den Bosch is about 28 km to the north-west of Nuenen.

6. The first edition of John Marshall, Anatomy for artists was published in London in 1878 by Smith, Elder & Co. for thirty-one shillings and sixpence. The work contains 200 engravings by J. and G. Nicholls after drawings by J.-S. Cuthbert. The second edition, at the same price, came out in November 1883. See The Publishers’ Circular no. 1108, vol. 46 (1883), pp. 1139, 1146, and The English catalogue of books 1878-1882 and 1883-1887.

7. It has not been possible to identify the teaching materials Van Gogh is referring to here. Cf. cat. Amsterdam 2001, pp. 10-16. By the ‘Ecole des Beaux-Arts’ Van Gogh will have meant the Brussels Academy; cf. letters 160 and 178.

8. Antoon Hermans was 62.

9. Pieter Bruegel the Elder is also known as ‘Peasant Bruegel’.

10. On this isolation: letter 419.

11. This expression also in letter 227.

12. This may be ‘tam’ (tame) rather than ‘lam’ (toothless).

13. Van Gogh also makes the comparison between 1848 and 1884 in letters 461 and 463.

14. See for this ‘business’ of Margot Begemann’s: letter 456, n. 10.

15. See for this call: letter 464. Mr van Gogh had been to talk about it the day before, 8 October (FR b2257).

16. The minister Johannes Doorenbos died on 7 October 1884 in Helvoirt, the town where Mr van Gogh was the minister between 1871 and 1875. Doorenbos had been the incumbent there since 1877.

17. From 1883 to 1885 Uncle Jan van Gogh lived with his sister Geertruida Johanna and brother-in-law Abraham Anthonie ’s Graeuwen at number 25-k Molenstraat (Huis ‘Rozen-Haeghe’) in Helvoirt (district A). They were the only members of the family still living in Helvoirt at this time (SAD).