Letter from Smyrna to Livorno, disinfected with vinegar and with two slits.
"This is of course a Bill of Exchange, which was folded to fit the small cover (which is why the Bill has several horizontal slits and the cover has 2 vertical slits). As I told you I did not know of any slitting at Livorno at this period. The leading expert on Livorno P.H. in this country is Alan Becker and he has 5 covers (or Photostats) to Livorno which were disinfected, 1799 to 1808. None of these are slit - they were opened for fumigation and sealed with a "blind" paper seal. Like me he has not seen any material disinfected at Livorno in the period 1789 to 1799. I suggest you send a scan of this page of yours to Alberto Caroli together with my note on my experience and Alan Becker's"
Denis
Dear Alberto, Do you have a guesswork where this letter was disinfected?
Yours sincerely,
André
