PASTEUR, LOUIS. (1822-1895). French chemist and microbiologist; discovered the process, named pasteurization in his honor, through which bacteria in liquids are destroyed by heating. Third Person ALS. (“M. Pasteur” but additionally signed at the conclusion “L. Pasteur”). 1p. 8vo. N.p., March 27, 1886. On his monogrammed stationery. In French with translation.
“Mr. Pasteur would be very much obliged to Mr. Besancon or any of his assistants to do the following: either find for him the ‘Official Bulletin of the meeting of the city council’, containing the discussion about the propositions of Messrs. Strauss (Pasteur Institute), Sevrand [?], Robinet, etc. or the address where my man-servant could purchase the issue…”
In 1882, after successfully vaccinating animals against anthrax and chicken cholera, Pasteur, who had witnessed a horrifyingly deadly outbreak of rabies as a boy, chose to focus his research on developing a vaccine for the disease, which was always fatal. After several years of experimentation, in July 1885, he used a weakened form of the virus taken from the dried spinal cords of infected rabbits to inoculate and save the life of a nine-year-old boy who had been attacked by a rabid dog. Over the next months, Pasteur improved the vaccine whose safety was not absolute at first and sometimes led to fatal side effects. In September 1885, after successfully treating a heroic shepherd boy who was bitten by a rabid dog after he threw himself on it to protect other shepherds, news of Pasteur’s breakthrough spread around the world and he was besieged by requests for treatment, prompting him to propose a clinic the mission of which would be research, education and administration of the vaccine. In January 1886, he outlined plans for a new institute in a letter to a philanthropist who immediately donated 40,000 francs for the project. “…A few weeks later, on 1 March, in a session [of the Academy of Sciences] which has become famous, Pasteur communicated the entire complex of his findings on rabies to his confreres” calling from the podium for “the creation of an anti-rabies vaccination establishment” (Louis Pasteur, Debré). After outlining his ideas for the institute, which included educating scientists to administer the vaccine in localities far from Paris and refusing state financial support, the academy endorsed his plan and created a committee to solicit funds through subscription.
