1. Gachet was 62 years old. In 1868 he had married Blanche Elisa Castets, who had died on 25 May 1875 in Paris. See exhib. cat. Paris 1999, p. 19 (n. 15).

2. In 1857-1858 Gachet had met the art collector Alfred Bruyas of Montpellier; in December 1888 Van Gogh had seen the Bruyas Collection. See exhib. cat. Paris 1999, p. 4, and letter 726.

3. The letter sketch Doctor Gachet (F - / JH 2008) was made after the painting of the same name F 753 / JH 2007 . The sketch shows one book; Van Gogh would add another one in the painting.

4. Self-portrait (F 627 / JH 1772 ). That Van Gogh is referring to this portrait is apparent from the description in letter 879. The portrait had been at Theo’s since September 1889 (see letter 805), so Vincent must have taken it from there.

5. There were four versions of this Marie Ginoux (‘The Arlésienne’), made after a drawing by Gauguin (see n. 10 below). The portrait ‘in pink’ which Theo had was F 543 / JH 1895 . Of the other three, F 542 / JH 1894 was intended for Gauguin (see letter 884) and so still at Theo’s, so that the version Vincent took along to Auvers must have been F 540 / JH 1892 or F 541 / JH 1893 . Van Gogh speaks of ‘the last portrait of the Arlésienne’ to distinguish it from an earlier portrait, which was also at Theo’s: Marie Ginoux (‘The Arlésienne’) (F 489 / JH 1625 ).

6. Doctor Gachet’s garden (F 755 / JH 1999 ).

7. Marguerite Gachet in the garden (F 756 / JH 2005 ).

8. Marguerite Gachet was 20 years old. Van Gogh painted her portrait (F 772 / JH 2048 ) at the end of June (see letter 893).

9. For Louis Dumoulin, see letter 874, n. 3.

10. For Gauguin’s Madame Ginoux (study for ‘Night café, Arles’) , see letter 866, n. 6.

11. Armand Guillaumin, Nude woman on a bed, c. 1877 (Paris, Musée d’Orsay). Ill. 145 .

12. Armand Guillaumin, Self-portrait, c. 1870-1875 (Paris, Musée d’Orsay). Ill. 147 . For the self-portrait of Guillaumin in Theo’s possession, see letter 800, n. 21.

13. Félix Bracquemond, Auguste Comte (after Joseph Guichard), 1851 (Paris, BNF, Cabinet des Estampes). Ill. 626 . This etching came from Gachet’s collection. See exhib. cat. Paris 1999, p. 179.

14. For Bargue’s Exercices au fusain, see letter 156, n. 12. Vincent had already asked Theo to send it in letter 874. For the copies Van Gogh drew after Bargue’s sheets in Auvers, see cat. Amsterdam 2007, pp. 479-487, cat. nos. 483-485.

15. Pietà (after Delacroix) (F 630 / JH 1775 ). For Nanteuil’s lithograph after Delacroix, on which Van Gogh based his painting, see letter 686, n. 3. As far as we know, Van Gogh did not make a copy for Gachet.

16. This remark probably refers to the fact that Millet’s The angelus had been sold in January 1890 for the huge sum of 800,000 francs to the department store magnate Alfred Chauchard. He bought the painting from the American Arts Association, which had acquired it in September 1889 at the Secrétan sale. See exhib. cat. Boston 1984, p. ix and letter 785, n. 8.