To Hendrik Verzijl. The Hague, Saturday, 26 October 1872.

Vincent van Gogh, the letters

To Hendrik Verzijl. The Hague, Saturday, 26 October 1872. Leo Jansen Hans Luijten Nienke Bakker
Huygens Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis (KNAW) info@huygens.knaw.nl Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam 2009

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vangoghletters.org/orig/let001a
001a - -
Vincent van Gogh Hendrik Verzijl The Hague Saturday, 26 October 1872

To Hendrik Verzijl. The Hague, Saturday, 26 October 1872.

Original manuscript

’s-Hertogenbosch, BHIC, family archive De Jonge van Zwijnsbergen, 319, inv. no. 438

Letter headed: ‘den Haag 26 Oct. 1872’

Below the signature are the words ‘WelEd. Heer H. Verzijl / Helvoirt / p.c.’ These lines must have been written after Van Gogh had folded the letter over twice. We regard them as an address, not as part of the letter. ‘p.c.’ is the abbreviation for ‘par couvert’, meaning that the letter was enclosed with another item, very probably a letter to Vincent’s parents, with the request that they pass it on to him.

Jansen et al. 2012.

[1]
den Haag 26 Oct. 1872
WelEd. Heer,
Tot mijn leed-
wezen ben ik geen van de
door U opgegeven stukken
kunnen machtig worden,
daar zij allen hooger zijn
gegaan dan de opgegeven
prijzen.–

Zij zijn allen gekocht door
den Heer v. Stockum, die er
commissie op scheen te hebben.
[2]
Voor wien het was, weet ik
niet, maar hoop dat toch wel
te weten te komen, daar
ik den zoon van den Heer
v. Stockum ken & hij mij
beloofd heeft er naar te in-
formeeren.

Zoodra ik er iets van hoor,
zal ik het U schrijven.
De verkooping was druk
bezocht, & naar ik hoor,
zijn er over het algemeen
hooger prijzen besteed dan
gewoonlijk.
[3]
Voor de opgegeven Nos is
ongeveer f 30.– besteed.
Na U verzocht te hebben,
mijne beleefde groeten aan
de familie de Jong te doen,
noem ik mij met de meeste
achting
Uw Dw. Dienaar
V.W. van Gogh
[1]
The Hague, 26 Oct. 1872
Dear Sir,
I regret that I have been unable to obtain any of the items you specified, since they all fetched more than the prices specified.
They were all purchased by Mr Van Stockum, who had apparently been acting on commission.
[2]
I do not know for whom, but hope to be able to discover it, since I know Mr Van Stockum’s son and he has promised to make enquiries.
As soon as I hear anything I shall write informing you.
The auction was very well attended, and I have heard that in general the prices paid were higher than usual.
[3]
Approximately 30 guilders was paid for the nos. specified.
With the request that you pay my respects to the De Jonge family, I am, yours faithfully,
Your obedient servant
V.W. van Gogh
Van Gogh must have been asked to bid on Verzijl’s behalf at an auction in The Hague (see note 3).
On 30 April 1873 Willem van Stockum married Caroline van Haanebeek, who was related to the Van Gogh family. Vincent was in touch with the young couple at this time, and later corresponded with them from London. See letters 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20.
Van Gogh must have visited the auction of books and prints from the estates of A.K. Kemper and J. de Vos, which took place from 21 to 29 October 1872 at the premises of W.P. van Stockum in The Hague. There is a copy of the auction catalogue in the University of Amsterdam Library, call number OTM: KVB NV 2223:3.
Van Stockum was the celebrated book dealer, publisher, antiquarian bookseller and auctioneer of Buitenhof in The Hague and the founder of the booksellers and publishers W.P. van Stockum en Zoon, on whom see http://www.vanstockum.nl/book/.
Verzijl was retired and had been lodging for some time in Jagtlust, a country house in Helvoirt belonging to the De Jonge van Zwijnsbergen family of Zwijnsbergen Castle. It seems that he had been employed as a tutor by the family at the end of his career. In February 1875 Verzijl was one of the 22 guests at the 53rd birthday party of the Reverend Theodorus van Gogh, who was on a friendly footing with the well-to-do residents and dignitaries in the village (FR b2320). He died at Jagtlust in 1881.