[Printed] Handbill with verses "To Dr. Carmichael Smyth", medical practioner & scientist (see DNB, and quotation below)

Handbill, four pages, 8vo, bifolium, minor staining, mainly good condition. The item has introductory remarks on the verses, presumably manuscript, being sent by Keate with a gift, reminding readers of Keate's work on the Pellew Islands and patronage of Lee Bow (another Marcellus). These are followed by 34 lines of verse, offereing support and help, with complimentary phrases. It commences, "'Tis not, I readily confess, | My virgin hue or silv'ry dress" , concluding, "My last drop will flow for you. | Such the aid I mean to give, | If with you allow'd to live." This is followed by brief words on the death, burial and nature of Keate, with 10 lines from the epitaph on or near his grave, with a few words about "a Gentleman who distinguished himself in his early years at the Scotch Bar" who "prepared" the Epitaph. Apparently not published elsewhere. Notes: a.James Carmichael Smyth features in both" An account of the Pelew Islands" and "The History of Prince Lee Boo, son of Abba Thulle,king of the Pelew Islands". e b.(DNB) "Smyth experimented with nitrous-acid gas for the prevention of contagion in cases of fever. At the request of the government he continued the experiments at the prison and hospital at Winchester, Hampshire, where there was an epidemic of typhus. He conducted a similar experiment to destroy contagion in 1795, on the HMS Union, a hospital ship which between September 1795 and January 1796 had taken on board 479 typhus sufferers from the Russian fleet. He heated crude nitre, presumably with carbon, and the oxides of nitrogen given off would, in fact, have been fatal to the lice which spread typhus, a disease not yet distinguished from typhoid. In addition, Smyth thought washing and cleanliness very important. For his experimental work, parliament voted Smyth in 1802 a reward of £5000. His claim to the discovery was disputed by Dr John Johnstone of Birmingham, for his father, Dr James Johnstone, and by M. Chaptal, for Guyton de Morveau. After a keen controversy, Smyth's claims were upheld. Shortly afterwards he was elected physician-extraordinary to George III. He then went to the south of France for his health, and on his return settled at Sunbury, Middlesex. He died at Sunbury on 18 June 1821". From the papers of the Carmichael-Smyth Family. See also #11461 (these verses in a different format. The handbill has a full Epitaph, 32 lines with a lengthy encomium, not just 10 lines as the broadside.