Leigh Hunt letter to John Hunt, October 14, 1823

              Florence—14 Octob. 1823. 
My dear John, 
I have received a letter from Mrs. Shelley, in which she exhorts me to draw upon you, being certain, she says, that you expect me to do so, and have been surprised at my not doing it.  Not hearing from you on this point, & having had no friend near /her/ me to endorse a bill, if I had drawn it, I confess I never thought of such a thing: but I now do it, having no other alternative. A gentleman here, whom Mr. Brown at his request introduced to me, & who is a man of fortune, has introduced me to his banker, who is this day to advance me f50 for which I draw upon you at 10 days' sight through the medium of Messrs. Ransom, Kinnaird, & Co. his bankers in London.  The sum is large, especially at this moment; but I have lodgings and washing to pay out of it, & half a year's rent in advance for part of a house in the neighbourhood of Florence,—two miles off; nor could I well (as I was given to understand) draw for less, under all the circumstances.  My wife (whose spitting of blood has returned) is ordered out of the city by the physician; but luckily, we have at length got to a place, where a residence out of town is confessedly cheaper than in it.  Our house-rent amounts to f17 a year; but meat, & all other provisions are cheaper than at Genoa; & I shall come backwards & forwards to libraries that cost me nothing, unless (for a purpose which I have in view) I go to the circulating library to consult & make extracts from the Italian papers.  You will have a specimen of what I mean, when I receive your answer to my last: for after the illness I experienced in coming to Florence, I am willing still to restrain my pen as much as possible, though my health, I think, promises to be better, as I get a little comfortable, than it has been since my residence in Italy. I am very sorry that I am obliged to draw on you at /sight/ so short a notice, but
  [continued from Page 3]  Mr. Finch, (the gentleman who introduced me to the bankers, Messrs.  Orsi & Co.) begs me to advise you to be particular in recollecting that the English banking house is Ransom, Kinnaird & Co. & not the other Ransom's.  He also thinks it would be as well if you asked for Mr. K. [Kinnaird] when you paid the money in: though why I do not exactly see.  I think he said, it was in order to have a witness to your paying the money, who knew you.  I believe he added that I ought to write to Ransom's at the same time; but this I shall ask him again to day.  If so, I shall write to them on Thursday—the 16th.