1. From letter 850 it appears that Theo had recently sent these photographs. It is not known which works by Millet they reproduced.

2. The last time Van Gogh and Russell were known to have been in touch was September 1888. As emerges both from what follows and from letter 850, Van Gogh wanted to make another attempt to interest Russell in Gauguin’s work, with a view to carrying out the latter’s plan (expressed in letter 844) to set up a collective studio in Antwerp.

3. This was Aurier’s article ‘Les isolés: Vincent van Gogh’ (see letter 845, n. 2). Evidently Theo had sent several copies of the Mercure de France, for in letter 853 Vincent quotes it verbatim, so he must still have had a copy. We know from letter 854 that Theo had also sent L’Art Moderne. Revue Critique des Arts et de la Littérature, in which a shortened version of the article appeared. It cannot be ascertained which version of the article Van Gogh sent to Russell.

For the paintings that Van Gogh exhibited at Les Vingt, see letter 820.

4. Russell owned Van Gogh’s painting Shoes (F 332 / JH 1234) and twelve drawings that Van Gogh had sent to him from Arles. See letter 650, n. 6, and letter 654, n. 1. It is not known if he had other works by Van Gogh in his possession.

5. After his 1888 visit to Belle-Île, Macknight returned to the Breton island in the summer of 1889, spending much time with Russell. See Bailey 2007, p. 34. See also letter 669, n. 15.