Lot 293: MOHAMMED SAID PASHA. LAND SALE CONTRACT FOR A PLOT IN ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT. 1853. DOCUMENT SIGNED.

An original four-page manuscript legal document, consisting of a bifolium on cream-coloured paper, detailing a land sale contract in Alexandria, Egypt, dated 10 February 1853. The document records the perpetual sale of a 23,706-square-foot plot of vacant land in the Gabari district from His Highness Mohammed Saïd Pasha, the future Wali of Egypt and Sudan (r. 1854–1863), to Gaëtano Carri, a Neapolitan merchant residing in Alexandria. The primary text is written in French, specifying the boundaries of the property, including its proximity to the railway and a small canal. The sale price is recorded as 23,000 five-franc pieces or the equivalent in English guineas at a rate of 101 Egyptian Piastres. The document concludes with several autograph signatures, including that of Mohammed Saïd, accompanied by a faint impression of his ink seal. Other signatures include the buyer G. Carri, and witnesses Selim eff (Selim Effendi) and And Popolani (Andrea Popolano), as well as F. Bravay acting by procuration for Mr Avoscani. A later addition on the second leaf features an Italian certification from the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, dated 29 March 1853. This section bears a circular blue ink stamp for the R. CONSOLATO GENERALE DELLE DUE SICILIE IN ALESSANDRIA D EGITTO and the signature of the Acting Chancellor, Gio. Miovilovich. A manuscript annotation at the top of the first page reads Presentato li 29 Marzo 1853 / N. 77.