When his apprentice, John Keats, abandons medicine for poetry, Thomas Hammond is devastated. But can the master apothecary learn something valuable about life from his poetic apprentice?

Picture of the cover of Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose

Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice, fiction inspired by medical history, coming April 2023

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Apothecary jar with Wyvern from the Hoffbrand Collection Royal College of Physicians

John Keats and Medicine

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Who was Thomas Hammond?

Apothecray jar from the Hoffbrand Collection Royal College of Physicians
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Apothecary Jars from the Hoffbrand Collection ©Royal College of Physicians

Latest Blogs
Keats and Rome
Keats and Rome

In September 1820 John Keats set sail for Rome.

The Letters of John Keats
The Letters of John Keats

I read the Letters of John Keats when I was writing my novel Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice.

Which Medicines Worked?
Which Medicines Worked?

When John Keats trained as an apothecary, medicines were made from plants, heavy metals or other natural products,

For more on the Hoffbrand Collection of Apothecary Jars at the Royal College of Physicians follow the link

The Collection

English Delftware Apothecary Jars and their Contents The Victor Hoffbrand Collecion by Alan Humphries, Henry Oakeley and Victor Hoffbrand

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