Vincent's lasting impression

VINCENT Van Gogh used his sketchbooks to create some of his most intimate works.

Vincent

VINCENT Van Gogh used his sketchbooks to create some of his most intimate works - quick impressions of the world around him in pencil, ink, chalk and charcoal.

Some never made it beyond the confines of the sketchbooks; others became the basis for fully developed paintings. Now, the first ever facsimile of the four intact sketchbooks and a number of loose pages is being published by the Folio Society, replicating the originals held at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The earliest sketchbook dates back to Van Gogh's time in Nuenen in The Netherlands and the last is the one he used in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, where he spent his last days. The others contain work from Nuenen, Antwerp and Paris. Only 1000 copies have been published and the collection, which includes a folder of the loose pages and a commentary volume, is housed in a display box based on the one that contains the originals. The Van Gogh Sketchbooks are available online from the Folio Society at $845.