https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102216 2026-04-14T03:50:17Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102334 Title: Slitting of letters for disinfection in the eighteenth century in Malta Abstract: The purpose of disinfecting correspondence was to prevent the importation of pestilence into the Maltese Islands, as in the past it was believed that the "contagion" of plague could attach itself to paper. Arrangements for carrying out the disinfection of letters were in existence in Malta by 1678 - that is, two years after the worst visitation of plague in the history of the Maltese Islands. lt has been stated that the means employed for this purpose at that time are unknown, and that no precise documents have been found from which one can deduce the nature of the mail-disinfection methods of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Malta. It has been suggested that by 1787, over a century later, the process used in Malta was the same as that then prevailing at Marseilles - that is, incising the letter (entailles) and soaking it in vinegar. The earliest instance, however, which has been quoted of the incising of correspondence for purification in Malta belongs to 1809. 1971-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102333 Title: The disinfection of letters at Malta - Chapter IV Abstract: GENERAL REGULATIONS To be observed by all Persons performing Quarantine in the Lazarette of Malta. I - All passengers on landing are to give their names to the Captain of the Lazaretto, which are to be entered in the Registry of the Office. II - The Captain of the Lazaretto will assign apartments for Passengers, and each Passenger will be provided with two chairs, a table and a wooden bedstead, for which no charges are made; but any damage done by the Passengers to the apartments or furniture is to be made good by them before pratique. III - Passengers are not to be permitted to enter other apartments; nor can they be allowed to receive visitors, except at the "Parlatori" of the Lazaretto, and that only during Office hours; nor are they to trespass the limits assigned to them by the Captain of the Lazaretto. [excerpt] 1971-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102331 Title: The disinfection of letters in Malta Abstract: Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries right up to the middle of the nineteenth century Malta was traditionally considered to be the boundary with regard to sanitation; beyond this point everything was doubtful. It is known that any vessels arriving from ports beyond Malta with clean bills of health were put in quarantine. There are no known factual documents from which one can deduce the nature of mail disinfection methods adopted in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It appears that towards the latter quarter of the eighteenth century the same method of disinfecting letters was used as in France. They were dipped in vinegar, and this method does not appear to have been changed while the British occupied the island during the Aboukir campaign. 1971-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102265 Title: The Philatelic Society of Malta magazine : no. 3(3) : 1971 Editors: Aquilina, E Abstract: Table of contents : 1/ CARNEVA LE-MAUZAN, M.; TAUSSIG, I. (trans.) - The disinfection of letters in Malta -- 2/ CARNEVA LE-MAUZAN, M.; TAUSSIG, I. (trans.) - The disinfection of letters in Malta - Chapter IV -- CASSAR, P. -Slitting of letters for disinfection in the eighteenth century in Malta. 1971-01-01T00:00:00Z