Receipt for cochineal liqueur from pharmacy at Sta. Maria Novella in Florence.

[Pharmacy] / [Sta. Maria Novella] / [Liqueur]. Fede per me Fra Tomasso Valori Speziale di S. Maria Novella di Firenze, come sono state da me vendute al Latore della presente in questo dì [17 Ott.e 1800] Num. [dodici] Bottiglie d’ Alchermes fabbricato in questa Fonderia, ed in fede ec. S.l. [Florence]: s.n., signed 1800. [21.2 x 15.2 cm], [1] f. letterpress form completed in manuscript, with woodcut arms and wax seal. Folds, wrinkling, minor toning.
 
 
Late 18th-century receipt—a remarkable survival—for a dozen bottles of the medicinal liqueur ‘alchermes’ purchased from the Spezieria di Santa Maria Novella. Today the officina at Sta. Maria Novella is often called the oldest pharmacy in the world, having been founded by Dominican friars in the 14th century.
 
The liqueur ‘alchermes’ was (and is) one of the pharmacy’s most famous products (see, e.g., G. F. Baruffi, pp. 1258-60). Its most striking characteristic is its bright scarlet color, which originally was achieved by adding the scale insect Kermes (from which its name derives via Arabic). Later the (far superior) Mexican insect cochineal was preferred. The liqueur is composed of spirits infused with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and vanilla, and other herbs. It has been used as a medicine, a cordial, a sweetener, and a colorant in pastries and other desserts.
 
The document is signed by Tommaso Valori (“by his own hand”), the celebrated apothecary-director of the pharmacy at the time. The letterpress text can be translated: “Certified by me, Fra Tomasso Valori, Apothecary of S. Maria Novella of Florence, as having been sold by me to the bearer hereof on this day [17 October 1800] no. [twelve] Bottles of Alchermes manufactured in this Foundry, and in faith, etc.”
 
 
I have not located any reference to other copies of this receipt/form. 
 
*G. F. Baruffi, Pellegrinazioni autunnali ed opuscoli (1841), vol. 2, pp. 1258-60; E. Braida and S. Destefanis, “L’Alchermes: liquore cremisi o vermiglio? Divagazioni storico-etimologiche sull’origine di un colore,” in P. G. Borbone, et al., eds., Linguistic and oriental studies in honour of Fabrizio A. Pennacchietti, pp. 135-40.