{
  "schema": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/files/context/public-context-v1.schema.json",
  "identifier": "NRA-L-000044",
  "language": "en",
  "status": "published",
  "title": "A parcel route from Paris to Beirut",
  "deck": "Family logistics during the French expedition to Syria and Lebanon",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-07-29",
  "version": "1.0",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "A letter during the 1860-1861 expedition",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "The letter was sent from Paris on 29 November 1860 to Louis Danet Cléry, a second lieutenant in the 13th Line Regiment at Beirut. It belongs to the period of the French expedition to Syria and Lebanon, mounted in response to the violence of 1860.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            2,
            3
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Trying to move a crate east",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "The writer says that a crate left Paris by rail for Toulon on 9 November. It was first intended to travel with Lieutenant Goguet or a regimental shipment, but the relevant detachment had already departed. The letter then considers other routes through Toulon or Marseille, the Messageries impériales and a steamer to Beirut.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            4
          ]
        },
        {
          "text": "These references document a proposed chain of transport, not proof that the crate reached Louis. No dispatch receipt or delivery acknowledgement has been located.",
          "sources": [
            1
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Deir al-Qamar",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "The writer expresses the hope that Louis and a companion would take part in work connected with Deir al-Qamar. Reconstruction formed part of the wider aftermath of the 1860 violence, but the letter does not prove that either man received an appointment or carried out the proposed work.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            2,
            3
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "evidence_limits": [
    {
      "text": "The writer is Louis's father, but his full identity has not yet been established. Several other people named in the letter have not been securely identified. The shipment route and possible reconstruction work are plans reported in the letter; their completion remains unverified.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        2,
        3,
        4
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source-1",
      "kind": "Primary source · manuscript",
      "citation": "Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000044, digital images, reviewed transcript and English translation of the letter dated 29 November 1860.",
      "url": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/NRA-L-000044",
      "link_text": "View the archive record",
      "support": "Supports the recipient, dates, planned shipment routes and reference to Deir al-Qamar."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-2",
      "kind": "Historical study",
      "citation": "Georges Spillmann, 'L'expédition du Liban (1860-1861)', Fondation Napoléon.",
      "url": "https://www.napoleon.org/histoire-des-2-empires/articles/lexpedition-du-liban-1860-1861/",
      "link_text": "Read the study",
      "support": "Provides historical context for the French expedition and its chronology."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-3",
      "kind": "Historical study",
      "citation": "'Aux sources de la politique arabe de la France : le Second Empire et le Machrek', Fondation Napoléon.",
      "url": "https://www.napoleon.org/histoire-des-2-empires/articles/aux-sources-de-la-politique-arabe-de-la-france-le-second-empire-et-le-machrek/",
      "link_text": "Read the study",
      "support": "Provides broader diplomatic and regional context for French activity in the Levant."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-4",
      "kind": "Museum collection",
      "citation": "Musée de La Poste, Collections en ligne, institutional records concerning the Messageries impériales.",
      "url": "https://collections.museedelaposte.fr/fr/",
      "link_text": "Search the museum collection",
      "support": "Provides institutional context for the transport company named in the letter."
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000044-claim-01",
      "statement": "The letter was addressed to a second lieutenant in Beirut during the French expedition of 1860-1861.",
      "evidence_type": "scholarly_inference",
      "certainty": "confirmed",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1",
        "source-2",
        "source-3"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000044-claim-02",
      "statement": "The writer describes several possible routes for a crate sent from Paris.",
      "evidence_type": "stated_in_document",
      "certainty": "documentary",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000044-claim-03",
      "statement": "The surviving evidence does not confirm delivery of the crate.",
      "evidence_type": "unresolved",
      "certainty": "open",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000044-claim-04",
      "statement": "The hoped-for participation in work at Deir al-Qamar is not evidence of an appointment or completed activity.",
      "evidence_type": "unresolved",
      "certainty": "open",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1",
        "source-2",
        "source-3"
      ]
    }
  ]
}