A 1791 autograph letter signed by James Amoss, wine merchant and slave dealer, sent from Kingston, Jamaica
Quarto, 4 pages (a bifolium), comprising 3 pages of text, with the last page used for address purposes.
Creased where folded for posting; slight loss to the leading edge of the second leaf where torn open, removing one word of text; overall, in excellent condition.
The letter, dated 10 December 1791 and carried privately by ship from Kingston, is addressed to 'Messrs Newton, Gordon & Murdoch, Merchants, Madeira'. A number of lesser matters are touched upon, but the letter deals primarily with the importation of wine: 'I cannot at present ascertain what quantity of wine I shall be able to dispose of next year, as I have 20 pipes on hand and sales are slow from the great quantity at market; however [you] will please ship me twenty pipes of York market wine, Barbadoes Gauge & 12 Iron hoops at first convenient opportunity'. As often with letters of any age, the first paragraph contains an apology for the tardy response: 'I have first to beg your excuse for my silence and then to explain how it happen'd. The beginning of March last I set out in haste for the Havana with a small cargo of negroes, and expected to sell them immediately, but was detain'd there till the end of July'.
Item #130002
Price (AUD):
$1,250.00