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Correspondence to London 1587

TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH
Antonio Lopez Serrano to Bartolomeo Corsini
7 February 1587

[Page 1]


Most magnificent Sir,
I received your letter of 10 Decemher, sealed on the 11th of the same, by which I understand that you have received mine of 26 October and 10 November, and that you have noted the particulars and prices of the merchandise of this place and Lisbon and Spain, which is well. Concerning the merchandise, there is little exporting going on here at present, but there is time to sell it in due course, and to wait until there is a demand for it. So in that case you will have whatever you may see fit and which may be suitable.

I see that you say you are having 30 or 40 butts of malmsey wine brought here. This summer a fleet will leave here for Lisbon. You will be able to place an order in Lisbon to have up to 40 butts, being good ones, shipped in the said fleet. They will not fail to be worth a lot here. Pepper here is worth 18 florins a stone, which is 20 pounds in Antwerp weight. Other spices are no use here, as I say above. If you were to give an order in Lisbon about the malmsey, it would be well for the skippers coming into the Sound to declare each butt at 80 thalers, because the customs officer in the Sound always buys 7 or 8 butts for the kind of Denmark, and when they are declared at the lowest price, he takes occasion to have them at the said price declared by the skippers. So it is as well to notify the people in Lisbon of this.

I see what you say about wax. I tell you, Sir, that here wax in cakes (clocas), if it is reasonable, is worth a hundred and twenty marks, and the good wax is 125 marks, each mark of 15 groscheo, which is 3s. 4d. in the currency of Antwerp, and as for the weight, a centner here corresponds to 104 pounds in Antwerp. As for rye, it is worth at present 41 to 42 florins a last, because the demand is so heavy that they have come over here from Emden, Hamburg and Rouen, and other parts of Zeeland and Holland, so that at present it cannot be found at a low price. Next May a great quantity of rye and wheat is to come from Poland, whereby the cost may then be cheaper. A last here corresponds to 37—1/2 viertels in Holland and Antwerp, and 42 bales in Zeeland, because the bale here

[Page 2] is good measure. As for leather that is used for soles for shoes, the unhaired sort sells here by the pound at 5 or 6 groschen a pound, and 120 pounds make 104 pounds in Antwerp weight. From the hides they cut the thin part from the belly, and they weigh 2 pounds for one, in such a way that the thick, heavy leather remains. It is cut in the manner of Malines. I see that you tell me to buy you one or two pieces of leather, the biggest and heaviest that can be found, on trial, and at the cheapest price, as if it were for my own use. You may rely on me in this case, since you say that if you found it profitable you would give me a larger order for the coming year for a larger contract. [On this understanding), after having made the trial, you will be notified.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 79 - April - May - June - 1993, Page 13.