ALS in French, signed "L. Pasteur," one page, 5.25 x 8.25, May 15, 1885. Letter to an unidentified gentleman. In full (translated): "There's nothing to be done at present. But be assured: of 100 persons bitten, less than 10 contract rabies. You will oblige me by keeping me informed of what will happen. I have advanced very far in the study of rabies, but all I might be able to do is to prevent perhaps by treatment the day after and the days following the bite. Very shortly I will make public the vaccination for canine rabies." Central horizontal and vertical folds, some light creases, and a couple small blocks of toning from old tape reinforcement on reverse, otherwise fine condition.
After five years of extensive study of the rabies virus and the successful treatment of several infected dogs, Louis Pasteur faced his first human patient in July of 1885. Certain that the severely bitten nine-year-old Joseph Meister would not survive without treatment, he began the course of the 13 injections; after administering all 13, one each day, in progressively stronger doses, Meister regained strength and never developed rabies. After a second successful treatment on a bitten shepherd which began in October, word spread and people began to seek him out for the vaccinations. A superb letter of great medical importance announcing his revolutionary, and life-saving vaccine.
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