מכתב: BL OR 5544.23

תיאור

Business letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi, in Istanbul, to Efrayim ʿAdda (עדה) and Eliyyahu Aylion (אאיליון), in Fustat/Cairo. In Ladino. There is an "AI" in Latin script on verso, along with sums/accounts. Dated: 26 Shevat 5566 AM, which is 14 February 1806 CE. The sender opens the letter by mentioning the dates when they recently sent other correspondence to ʿAdda and the names of the vessels and boat captains that carried the correspondence. The word for each vessel is "קאיק" from Ottoman Turkish "قايق" or "kayık"– meaning a "boat" or "small sailing vessel." This term also appears as a loanword in English "caïque." Later one in line 8, Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi also mentions having written something in Turkish (escribí detrás de la carta en turquesco). Mentions Izmir in the next line, and then what the writer has sent in the ship of the captain Ibrahim. He has sent a very fine [...] "that is called çiçek, which is to say, flower"; sugar, ginger, beleric myrobalan(?) (ביליליג), and other goods from an apothecary (boticario) that require further examination based on the specialized terminology. Later, the letter mentions a variety of clothing items, leather (cuero), and shipments/transactions in "ropas." The letter's pricing terms require further research, esp. the abbreviation frequently appearing with gimmel as the first letter. MCD