1. Van Gogh had asked for paint and canvas in letters 677 and 680 respectively.

2. Van Gogh wrote about the autumn weather in letter 686.

3. The letter sketch Ploughed fields (‘The furrows’) (F - / JH 1587) is after the painting of the same name F 574 / JH 1586 .

4. Paul Eugène Milliet (‘The lover’) (F 473 / JH 1588 ).

5. We do not know whether Milliet received a study in return for sitting.

a. Read: ‘mais bon’ (but there you are); influenced by the Dutch: ‘maar ja’.

6. See letter 638, n. 15, for this anecdote about Ziem.

7. Van Gogh is mistaken about the author: L’abbé Constantin (1882) is by Ludovic Halévy; see letter 626, n. 14.

8. See letter 568, n. 11, for Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-ami.

9. Vincent had asked Theo to find out from Tanguy whether he could supply more coarsely ground paint; see letter 677.

10. White was supplied in larger tubes than the other colours.

11. This is confirmed by one of Tanguy’s price lists – undated – on which ‘Bleu de Berlin (ou Prusse)’ and ‘bleu minéral’ cost 0.25 francs, and ‘Bleu de Cobalt’ costs 1 franc (FR b1445).

12. Van Gogh must have got the notion that Delacroix used large quantities of Prussian blue from Silvestre; in this context cf. letter 595, n. 14.

13. See letter 552, n. 11, for Zola’s L’oeuvre. There are three scenes in the novel where the painter Claude Lantier begs his model – his mistress and later his wife Christine – to pose for him. See Zola 1960-1967, chapter 1 (p. 21) and chapter 4 (pp. 111-112, 114). The idea that Zola based the character of Lantier on Manet arises out of a misunderstanding; see letter 561, n. 7.

14. Bernard had sent six sketches altogether; see letter 696. They were probably Meadow with figures and animals, Idyll at Asnières, Figures by the riverside and the sheet Brothel scene with Two sketches of prostitutes on the back (Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum). Ill. 2257 , 2258 , 2259 , 2260 , 2287 . See Roskill 1970-2, pp. 223-224. In letter 690 Van Gogh thanks Bernard for sending them. The fact that two of the sketches are together on a single sheet (with another one on the back) explains why Van Gogh refers to five sketches here and six in letter 696.

15. Van Gogh had written this in letter 684 to Bernard.

16. Evidently Bernard had complained to Van Gogh that his father did not support him enough. However the published letters he wrote to his family in 1888 do not give this impression. Cf. Harscoët-Maire 1997, pp. 160-183.

17. See letter 683 for this order for frames and stretching frames, to which the frame for Ploughed fields (n. 3 above) was added.

18. Thérèse Balmoissière.

19. This sentence was not finished.

20. Van Gogh had read about Tolstoy’s My religion in the article ‘Les Réformateurs. Le comte Léon Tolstoï, ses précurseurs et ses émules’ by Leroy-Beaulieu in the Revue des Deux Mondes; see letter 686, n. 10. In it Tolstoy’s thinking is associated with Nihilism several times. His doctrine is described as ‘Christian Nihilism’ (nihilisme chrétien) (p. 438; in this connection see also pp. 431, 434). Leroy-Beaulieu also wrote: ‘Tolstoy lives in the country, he ploughs, makes hay and harvests with his own hands ... he produces boots which sell well ... he still knows how to mend pots ... the broad hand that wrote War and Peace enjoys driving a plough’ (Tolstoï vit à la campagne; il laboure, il fane, il moissonne de ses mains ... Il fait des bottes qui se vendent bien ... il sait encore réparer les poêles ... la large main qui a écrit Guerre et Paix se délecte à conduire la charrue) (p. 436).

21. See letter 686, n. 20, for Tolstoy’s concept of the ‘inner’ revolution.

22. Van Gogh thanked Theo for this letter and the money in letter 685.