[Raspail, propagandist himself from the "warnings" of the manual of health, between 1845 and 1878]

During the last thirty years of his life, between 1845 and 1878, François-Vincent Raspail (1794-1878) published each year a new edition of his Manuel de santé (Manual of Health), which was intended as a practical guide to prevent and treat, using in particular camphor, major human diseases. Each edition was accompanied by a preamble, as an annual forum where the "revered teacher" applied to give information on his family, his trial, his stays in prison, his resentment, his exile, his publications, schedules consultations, etc. As a libertarian protester against the powers wether medical, political or judicial, Raspail was a tireless defender of the poor and weak, and this attitude earned him his reputation and his popularity. This positive image of "secular saint" was built from an effective propaganda, where the Manuel de santé and its preambles played a central rol.