1796. Carta não autógrafa de Francesco Saverio Todi, compositor e violinista, para Dom João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, diplomata.

Letter from Francesco Saverio Todi, a composer and violinist, to Dom João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, the Portuguese plenipotentiary minister in London.

The author gives a detailed account of his arrival by boat in Lisbon and of all the errands he has done on behalf of the addressee. He succeeded in delivering some letters to the Prince before the regular courier arrived, and he visited the addressee's friends and family. He sends some black olives and toothpicks.

The author was an Italian violinist, the husband of the Portuguese lyric singer Luísa Todi and former concertmaster of the Bairro Alto theatre in Lisbon. By the time these letters were written he was seeking the help of the Portuguese plenipotentiary minister in London, Dom João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, to try and get back the income on the money he had given to Jean-Joseph de Laborde, Marquis of Laborde, the banker in the court of Louis XV (France). Since Laborde had been sentenced to the guillotine and his son was exiled in England, he was trying to get to him through the Portuguese diplomat. As the letters prove, he was also doing errands and favours in Lisbon to the Ambassador.