Letter handwritten and signed by the emissary R. Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref. Livorno, 25 Marcheshvan [1850].
Addressed to the elderly notable, R. Shlomo Beer, secretary of the Pesaro community. The letter bears the signature of "Avraham Shlomo Zalman, emissary of Tzion". Additional letter at the foot of the leaf, handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Shlomo Zalman.
R. Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref was a leader of the Perushim community in Jerusalem. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1811 and joined the small Ashkenazi community in Safed, headed by R. Menachem Mendel of Shklow. A year later, an epidemic caused him to flee to Jerusalem together with nine other families, who became the nucleus of the Ashkenazi settlement of disciples of the Gaon of Vilna in Jerusalem (in those days, Ashkenazim could not settle in Jerusalem due to the heavy debts left by the followers of R. Yehuda HeChasid, and the fact that Arabs considered all Ashkenazim guarantors for these debts. R. Avraham Shlomo Zalman and his group were among the first to settle in Jerusalem in those times, disguising their identity by donning Sephardic garb). His connections with the local government and with the Russian and Austrian consuls facilitated canceling the debt of the Ashkenazi community and attaining authorization from the Sultan to rebuild the Hurva of R. Yehuda HeChasid. These activities provoked the Arab population of Jerusalem, and he was later murdered by several Arabs. This letter by R. Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref was written during his stay in Livorno while raising funds for the yishuv in Eretz Israel, less than a year before his death.
[1] leaf. 24.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Address and postmarks on verso.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.