John Eyles is identified by Prior as Goldsmith's occasional ‘man-servant’ (II: 511). Nothing more is known of him. As Goldsmith was busy at this time writing An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature, it seems probable that he is asking Percy to bring the book referred to in the letter on his next visit.

The verso of the manuscript shows the date of the letter from which it was torn, ‘March 21, 1772’. Percy's journal has the following entry for 31 March 1772: ‘Mrs. Percy and I went to see Dr. Goldsmith and dined with him, came home in the evening’. If Percy did indeed retrieve the book from Eyles, this may be when he brought it to Goldsmith.

The copy-text is the manuscript in the British Library. It was first published in Gaussen's Percy, Prelate and Poet in 1908. In addition to the date noted above, the verso of the manuscript also includes a list of fish, notes for the passages on ‘cartigilanous fish’ in his Animated Nature: ‘Lamprey. Pike | skate or flat fish. | Shark. | Sturgeon | The sun fish | The lump fish | And the fishing frog. | And the sea snail.’