Autograph manuscript by Louis Pasteur. One page in black ink on a single leaf, with numerous erased words and crossed-out passages.

Unpublished note by pasteur on his rabies vaccine.

Pasteur was under the scrutiny of countless of opponents, scientific as well as political, and bemoans the “attacks as violent as they were incomprehensible” he endured. The manuscript also announces the popular success of his vaccine, as subscriptions for his future Institute were in full swing.

Pasteur likely drafted these reflections on the reception of his vaccine for the conclusion of a report on rabies, probably between 1886 and 1888. The vaccination of young Joseph Meister in 1885 sparked genuine public enthusiasm, but also prompted a new wave of criticism. Pasteur had become a genius to some, a charlatan and a sellout to others:

“As I conclude, should I speak of the attacks [crossed out: and at times] as violent as they were incomprehensible that greeted the [crossed out: unexpected] discovery of rabies prophylaxis after a bite? [crossed out: I had thought of it; I had even prepared a] It seems quite unnecessary to me. Personally, I am unaffected by them. [crossed out: The slanders, the insults, all came from the men of a certain party].”

The many words and phrases he decided to strike out are highly revealing: he had first written that the discovery of the rabies vaccine was “unexpected” before crossing it out. Faced with a near-certain fatal prognosis, the first clinical application of the vaccine on Joseph Meister was indeed a bold gamble. The “unexpected” lies less in Pasteur’s work on the gradual attenuation of the virus and incubation periods — already proven effective with more than fifty animal cases — than in its first administration to a human patient. Pasteur likely removed the adjective to avoid further criticism over the conduct of this therapeutic trial. The audacity of this experiment had saved the young boy’s life. Unless this “unexpected” refers to another step in the discovery not yet documented by historians.

Although the conserved text conveys his indifference, Pasteur had initially drafted a sharp remark about his adversaries: “The slanders, the insults, all came from the men of a certain party”. His discovery indeed became a matter of national importance: he was suddenly the hero of a fragile Third Republic shaken by internal strife and economic difficulties. While patients from around the world flocked to his Paris laboratory for the vaccine, “a certain party”, in Pasteur’s words, strove to discredit him. The radical left (Socialists and former Communards) united against his vaccines and animal experiments. Within the medical sphere, researchers criticized his reluctance to peer review, and physicians reproached him for being “only” a chemist. Beyond fears about the vaccine itself, it was Pasteur’s integrity that proved bothersome: republicans highlighted his former attachment to Napoleon III’s Empire, whereas popular journalist Henri Rochefort made him the symbol of corruption within republican elites… the list goes on.

But Pasteur had “prepared” his rebuttal, as indicated in a crossed-out sentence: “I had thought about it”. He also owed his scientific victory to a vigorous campaign of public promotion and media defence: “Pasteur manages […] to pursue a strategy for winning over public opinion based on the use of the laboratory as a site of knowledge and as the place where a new mode of validating scientific truth is created […]. Benefiting , from the new media like his opponents, Pasteur is one of the first men of science to have sought to use the press (such as La Revue scientifique) to share his work and build his reputation among a broad readership in Paris and, above all, in the provinces” writes Henri Chappey in Pasteur et les antivax.

“Never was a discovery more widely acclaimed”

The success of his discovery generated immense national support for the creation of an Institute devoted to research, teaching, and the preparation of vaccines. As early as the first months of 1886, an international public subscription was launched to finance its construction. As a patriot, Pasteur shows that the French people spoke on his behalf despite the criticism: “Never was a discovery more widely acclaimed. The subscription lists for the Pasteur Institute, published each day in the Journal officiel, proves it. For the honour of my country, I would wish to erase even the memory of the shame these slanders have cast upon their authors.” Yet Pasteur’s wish would remain unfulfilled: the fundraising campaign only further enraged his opponents, for whom “this new fundraising campaign, orchestrated by the press and backed by the financial and political authorities, amounts to deception, if not outright scandal.” (Henri Chappey, ibid.). Pasteur raised millions of francs for his Institute inaugurated in 1888, which would propel France into the age of vaccination and inspired the creation of countless other Pasteur Institutes worldwide.

A masterful display of conviction, revealing Pasteur’s sentiments (censored by his own pen) on his vaccine’s many critics.