Van Gogh, Vincent

Autograph letter signed ("V.W. van Gogh"), 2 pages (4 1/2 x 4 in.; 114 x 101 mm), in Dutch, Paris, 2 September 1875, to Egbert Borchers; integral address panel on verso of second page with the address "Den Heer E.H. Borchers s'Hage," confirming the letter was sent together with a letter to Theo van Gogh of 2 September 1875, Van Gogh assumed that Borcher's second Christian name was Hubertus which is more common than Rubertus; matted and framed with two images of works by Van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh—The Letters, ed. Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten & Nienke Bakker, 2009, letter 043.

Touching base with a friend. Van Gogh warmly thanks Borchers for his recent letter which gave him "great pleasure." He notes he hopes to be in Holland for Christmas and will go immediately to The Hague: "We must then make sure not to miss each other." A voracious reader in numerous languages, van Gogh writes: "I'm glad that you still have a passion for reading, that's always good, at least such books as you read. I still keep it up, too; an employee in our office (Goupil) who has gone on holiday to Holland  has just promised to bring me a copy of 'Motley, Geschiedenis der 17 provinciën.'"  Van Gogh is writing of De opkomst van de Nederlandsche Republiek, The Hague, 1859, a translation of John Lothrop Motley's, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History, London, 1856.

Van Gogh closes his letter with a bit of nostalgia confirming he is in Paris, "I have wandered rather a lot since we saw each other on my last day in The Hague and it seems to me that it was a great deal longer than 2 years ago."

Letters by van Gogh are extremely rare at auction, especially those of such an early date.