Thousands of papers seized from Spanish ships during the 18th Century are now online. The letters are from and to ordinary sailors, revealing details of daily life from that time.
The correspondence was seized by the British during wars in the 1700s, and is being published by British researchers.
“My dear beloved husband I will celebrate that this letter has reach[ed] your hands and finds you with the perfect health that I wish for myself," [writes Francisca Muñoz in Seville to her husband, Miguel Atocha, in Mexico on 22 January 1747/]. “I would like to know the reason why I did not receive any response to the 13 letters I sent to you; I would like to know if perhaps over there [there] is no paper or pen or ink not to have written even a letter…. “
Kvetch kvetch kvetch. But Francisca is just getting wound up.
Serious questions: At what point do rights of privacy end? If these people were alive, it would be a crime to publish their private letters. Do rights of privacy end at death? Even after 300 years, should these papers continue to be kept private?