This hand-stitched letter book (6.5" x 8", 30 pages) contains 13 business letters that an unidentified man wrote to professional acquaintances from New York between November 18, 1801, and December 17, 1801. The author wrote to several of his business associates, including a group he addressed as "dear friends" (8 letters), John William Fossatt (2 letters), John T. Clark (1 letter), Captain John Foster (1 letter), and an anonymous recipient (1 letter). He reported local market prices for goods and frequently commented on the possibility of loading and shipping pepper onboard different ships at New York Harbor. The letters also concern the author's attempts to collect payments and his intentions to travel to other ports, such as Baltimore. In letters to his "dear friends," he occasionally mentioned his interactions with John Fossatt and Captain John Foster. The letter to Foster orders Foster to sail to Providence, Rhode Island, onboard the Maria and transport money to a bank in Boston. After November 20, 1801, when news of peace between France and Great Britain reached New York, the author mentioned its possible effects on international trade.
