This is a letter from Prof. Dr. Gaston Bert to Dr. John Brinkley on the 12 of October 1925. Brinkley had received a degree of Doctor of Surgery on July 23, 1925, and would return to Pavia in November to complete the examination which would license him to practice medicine in Italy. This letter was written in the interim. Dr. Bert, along with his colleague Dr. Magnaghi, were attempting to exempt Brinkley from the exam. Brinkley hoped to obtain a license to practice medicine in Italy and so that he could obtain a British license by presenting the degree to the board of medicine in Great Britain. Though it is unclear the exact nature of the deal, Brinkley’s diploma was in part conferred on the basis of a donation he made of $100 to the University of Pavia. There are also allusions to a ‘perequation,’ and the phrase “Dock Magnaghi American Degree” is underlined, so perhaps Brinkley offered a degree exchange with the Italian professor.