" KEATS THE CHEMIST."
[To THE EDITOR. OF THE "SPECTATOR...1 Sin,—In the charming poem entitled "Romance," published in the Spectator of December 9th, these words occur. It is a common thing to find Keats described as assistant to an " apothecary " or chemist. I am not sure that Mr. Rudyard Kipling does not use the expression, but I fail to find it. However, the question is, Was Keats apprenticed to a chemist ? In the life of Keats by W. M. Rossetti (" Great Writers" Series, published by Walter Scott, 1887) the following words occur (page 18): "He was apprenticed with a premium of £210 to a Mr. Hammond, a surgeon of some repute at Edmonton. . . . The indenture was to have been for five years, but for some reason, which is not wholly apparent, Keats left Hammond before the close of his apprenticeship." It is well known that after this Keats was at St. Thomas's Hospital, and in July 1815 he passed the examination at Apothecaries Hall, and was afterwards a dresser at Guy's
Hospital. But he was not a "chemist," was he ?—I am, Sir,
&c., E. S. SHIITTLEWORTH. St. Paul's Vicarage, Kingston Hill.
[Clearly " apprenticed to an apothecary " would in Keats's day have meant apprenticed to a general practitioner.—En. Spectator.]
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