1. This is probably a response to a remark made by Gauguin in his letter to Van Gogh of about 26 September 1888 (688): ‘I’m fearful that your brother, who likes my talent, rates it too highly. If he found a collector or speculator who was tempted by low prices, let him do it. I’m a man of sacrifices, and I’d like him to understand that whatever he does, I’ll find it well done.’ Referring to this passage, Van Gogh wrote in his next letter to Theo: ‘Now I have a letter from Gauguin, who seems very sad ... I’ll send you his letter with the reply’ (691). Evidently the crossed-out text is a discarded version of that reply; we do not know the letter that Van Gogh actually sent to Gauguin.

2. The three no. 30 canvases depicting the park are The public garden (‘The poet’s garden’) (F 468 / JH 1578 ), Path in the public garden (F 470 / JH 1582 ) and an unknown painting, previously described as ‘a round cedar or cypress bush’ (689) and shortly thereafter as ‘the garden with the round bush and the oleanders’ (694).

3. Ploughed fields (‘The furrows’) (F 574 / JH 1586 ).

4. Starry night over the Rhône (F 474 / JH 1592 ). Not all of the line is on the page. Only the accents and the tops of the ascenders of the uncertain reading ‘la nuit étoilée’ can be seen, but this reading is supported by letter 691.