1. It is impossible to say for sure which scratches of heads Van Gogh is referring to here, how many there were or which paintings they were of. He did numerous heads of men and women in the winter of 1884-1885. In view of their small size and their present location – the Van Gogh Museum – eleven pen-and-ink drawings qualify in any event. However, Van Gogh mentioned enclosing scratches of heads in subsequent letters too. See letters 476, 477, 479, and cat. Amsterdam 1997, pp. 124-133, cat. nos. 108-118, which also lists several other surviving drawings (15 in total) which could have been sent to Theo during this period.

2. Van Gogh had written about this in letter 473.

3. In the monthly magazine Paris Illustré (which started publication on 1 May 1883) there was always a central theme, for example ‘Au Salon de 1883’, ‘Carnival’ etc. Aside from articles and literature, the magazine primarily contained prints, often in colour. It cost 1 franc.