1. This letter from Theo was letter 749. In the meantime, Salles had informed Theo on 18 March that Vincent’s condition had improved (FR b1049).

2. This petition, signed by 30 residents of the neighbourhood around place Lamartine, urgently requested the mayor, Jacques Tardieu, to have Van Gogh committed, because he supposedly presented a danger to the inhabitants of Arles. See Documentation, shortly before 27 February 1889 and Ill. 2278

. Thus the number was considerably smaller than that mentioned by Van Gogh.

3. As a result of this petition, Joseph d’Ornano, chief of police of the city of Arles, drew up a report on 27 February 1889 containing the neighbours’ statements. They reproached Van Gogh for over-indulging in drink, ‘after which he is in a state of over-excitement such that he no longer knows what he is doing or what he is saying’ (se livre à des excès de boissons après lesquels il se trouve dans un état de surexcitation tel qu’il ne sait plus, ni ce qu’il fait, ni ce qu’il dit). In the report, he was accused of lewd behaviour: ‘The women, especially, no longer feel comfortable, because he is prone to touching them inappropriately, and makes obscene remarks in their presence’ (Les femmes surtout ne sont plus rassurées car il se livre sur elles à des attouchements et tient des propos obscènes en leur présence).

Ornano’s conclusion reads as follows: ‘Mr Vincent van Gogh is truly suffering from mental disturbance; however, we have noted on several occasions that this madman has moments of lucidity. Van Gogh is not yet a threat to public safety, but there are fears that he may become so. All his neighbours are frightened, and with good cause, because a few weeks ago, the madman concerned cut off an ear in a fit of insanity, a crisis that could be repeated and be harmful to somebody in his vicinity.’ (Le Mr Vincent Van Goghe est réellement atteint d’aliénation mentale; cependant nous avons constaté à différentes reprises que cet aliéné a des moments de lucidité. Van Goghe n’est pas encore dangereux pour la sécurité publique, mais on craint qu’il ne le devienne. Tous ses voisins sont effrayés, et cela à juste titre, car il y a quelques semaines l’aliéné dont il s’agit s’est coupé une oreille dans un accès de folie; crise qui pourrait se produire à nouveau et être funeste à quelque personne de son voisinage.) See Documentation, 27 February 1889 and Ill. 2280

On 26 February Salles had informed Theo of Vincent’s admission to hospital; in his letter of 2 March he went into the contents of the report (FR b1047 and FR b1051). This report, the petition and Dr Delon’s report (see letter 747, n. 1) were sent to the mayor on 6 March. A letter was also written around this time on behalf of the mayor, stating that Van Gogh should be transferred to the asylum at Aix-en-Provence: ‘Considering that it follows from these various documents [the report, among others] that far from improving, the mental state of the said insane person is deteriorating day by day and that the unfortunate individual is committing acts of raving madness that threaten his life and that of the persons around him ... The said Vincent van Gogh ... who is currently confined at the hospital in Arles, will immediately be taken to Aix and placed in the mental asylum of that town pending the decision of the prefect regarding his permanent admission to that institution.’ (Considérant qu’il résulte de ces divers documents que l’état mental du dit aliéné loin de s’améliorer s’aggrave de jour en jour et que ce malheureux se livre à des actes de folies furieuses qui compromettent son existence et celle des personnes qui l’entourent ... Le nommé Vincent Van Gogh ... actuellement sequestré à l’hospice d’Arles, sera conduit immédiatement à Aix pour y être déposé dans l’asile d’aliénés de cette ville en attendant que M. le Préfet ait prononcé son admission définitive dans cet établissement.) (ACA). This letter was ready to be signed, so that things could be set in motion quickly should it prove necessary. It the end, however, it did not come to that. See exhib. cat. Amsterdam 2016, pp. 53, 152-155.

4. After his first attack on 23 December 1888, during which he cut off his left ear (see letter 728, n. 1), Van Gogh remained in hospital until 7 January 1889. Less than a month later he suffered a renewed attack, which led to his hospitalization on 7 February (letter 747, n. 1). On the 18th he was allowed to leave the institution during the day, though he continued to eat and sleep at the hospital (see letters 757 and 748). A third attack followed on 26 February. In a later letter to Willemien, Vincent wrote that he had had four serious attacks of his illness (see letter 764).

5. In the light of the petition, the doctors and the Rev. Salles thought it better for Vincent not to return to the Yellow House, but to take up residence in another part of town. Salles informed Theo of this in his letter of 1 March 1889 (FR b1048).

6. Van Gogh said this earlier (see letter 211, n. 18), and repeats it in letter 784.

7. The petition (n. 3 above) stated that Van Gogh overindulged in drink. Salles asked himself, however, how reliable the testimony was, when he wrote to Theo on 2 March 1889: ‘They say ... he drinks heavily (the proprietor of the café, his neighbour, who had told me precisely the opposite, has confirmed that)’ (On dit ... qu’il boit beaucoup (le cafetier, son voisin, qui m’avait dit exactement le contraire, a affirmé cela)) (FR b1051).

Not only did Vincent’s neighbours have objections, but the medical staff was of the opinion that Van Gogh’s problems had to do with excessive consumption of tobacco, alcohol and coffee; see letters 752 and 760.

8. For the origin of this allusion from the book Petites misères de la vie humaine by Old Nick and Grandville, see letter 178, n. 6.

9. Theo had reported in letter 749 that Signac would be coming to see Vincent. For his visit, see letter 752.

10. Lines 140 ff. were written on part of an envelope (see Additional details). Here Van Gogh reiterates what he said about Rey in ll. 35-36.

11. Theo travelled on 30 March to the Netherlands for his marriage to Jo on 18 April in Amsterdam. Immediately afterwards, they left for Brussels, where they spent their one-day honeymoon, returning on Saturday, 20 April to Paris. See Brief happiness 1999, pp. 27, 240 (n. 1) and letter 762.