Letter: AIU IX.B.29

Description

Letter in Spanish from Jacob Nuñes de Paz to Los S[eñore]s Alpalas & Costa Aires in Alexandria (see tag for others in the group), probably ca. 1720 (25 Nisan is clear in heading but the year is lost). Discusses a variety of "caxas" and "caxetas", or "boxes" and "little boxes" of commercial goods as well as monetary payment, for example, in "fonduclis" (l.15r) an Ottoman gold coin that was minted beginning in 1725 CE. On the recto there is also mention of the rental of a maritime vessel with terminology that was common for the caravan shipping system of the early modern Mediterranean. The author speaks of "procurando de nolejar una polaca" (l.21), which indicates his intent to formally rent a "polaca"-type maritime vessel (the verb "nolejar" in Spanish being a derivation of the more common Italian "noleggiare"). MCD.