François-Vincent RASPAIL, imprisoned, fights for his release.

François-Vincent RASPAIL (1794-1878)

Autograph letter signed to judge André Dupin.

One page in-8°. Saint Pelagie. January 16, 1836.

Recipient's head note "I replied".

Beautiful letter from Raspail, imprisoned in Sainte-Pélagie and fighting for his release.

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“Mr. President, I take the liberty of placing the attached petition in your hands. The respect you profess for legality is a sure guarantee that you will not refuse me. In this circumstance, the support of a talent and erudition which, in another forum, have been so favorable to me. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my consideration. Raspail. PS All documents relating to the illegality of my arrest can be found at the royal court registry . »

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A chemist and botanist by profession, François Raspail was involved in all social and political commitments. In 1830, he joined the Parisian people who rebelled during the Three Glorieuses which caused the fall and exile of Charles X.

He then founded a republican opposition newspaper, Le Réformateur , and chaired the Society of Friends of the People. This was definitively dissolved in 1832 by the new power which sentenced him to fifteen months in prison and a fine of 500 francs for insulting the King. In Sainte-Pélagie, where political prisoners are incarcerated, Raspail takes the head of the Republican Association for the Defense of Press Freedom.

On July 28, 1835, Giuseppe Fieschi committed an attack against King Louis-Philippe. The latter, unharmed, reacts by attacking the Republicans. Raspail was arrested again and sentenced to two years of imprisonment and five years of “surveillance”.

Drawing on the experience of his detentions, he became interested in life in prisons (his “second home”) by writing Prison Reform. Letters on Prisons (1839).