July–December 1935

9 Plutarch Street, Athens,

17 July 1935Dear Mr.Hilton,

I duly received the supplementary Permit you sent on June 20th, but do not recall whether I acknowledged receipt, as I should have done, by the post of 4 July. In any case please accept my thanks now.

Miss Grace has handed me the key you had from me of the trunk kept in the storeroom at Episkopi, from which she extracted our Lapithos notebooks. After her visit the storeroom was again locked and sealed by the police, who retained the key subject to orders from you.

The guard has written me that notice has been given that we must vacate the house we have had in Episkopi since by decision of the Courts it is no longer in custody of the Trustee in Bankruptcy who had leased it to us. The guard has accordingly removed our goods from the upper rooms, but has notified the trustee and/or the owners that the lower rooms, containing antiquities, have been locked and sealed under instructions of your department and cannot be vacated at this time.

I presume that the notice from the Trustee i/B was only pro forma, to let us know that from July 1 we deal with the owners, the brothers Zeno and Evagoras Chrysostomides; and I do not imagine that they will wish our occupancy, at least of the storerooms, to cease. There should then be no difficulty, except perhaps in settling terms.

If, however, they really wish us to get out, or desire us to believe that they so wish, to demand removal of the antiquities by your Department. If they do this I assume that you will delay matters -- as will of course be easy enough -- until after my return. Meanwhile I have sent word to the owners that we should like to take the whole house, or at least the storerooms.

Our plans are unchanged: - to be back in Cyprus the last week of September and to resume work about October 1. Miss Grace will probably come a few weeks earlier than the rest of us, if it is decided that the Lapithos cases are to be opened in Episkopi and if we can secure a suitable workroom there. A good deal of re-mending will unfortunately have to be done, I fear, though the pots were all cleaned and repaired in 1932.

I have received lessees' and owners' permission to dig for graves near Kaloriziki (below, opposite side of the path) and hope to ask you for the required official Permit by the next post. Latest letters indicate that conditions have improved a bit at the Museum in Philadelphia and that with good luck we may hope for more support from Curium, Cyprus

Very sincerely yours, [handwritten: signature]

Handwritten: Gjerstad?