Honore de Balzac Books In Order

Human Comedy Books In Publication Order

  1. History of the Thirteen (1833)
  2. The Old Maid, [and] the Cabinet of Antiquities (1833)
  3. The Illustrious Gaudissart (1833)
  4. The Celibates (1840)
  5. The Physiology of Marriage (1841)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Last Fay (With: ) (1823)
  2. The Quest Of The Absolute (1834)
  3. Seraphita (1834)
  4. Melmoth réconcilié (1835)
  5. La Rabouilleuse (1840)
  6. Illusions perdues (1843)
  7. Le Cousin Pons (1847)
  8. The Country Parson (1896)
  9. About Catherine de Medici (1900)
  10. Eugénie Grandet (1914)
  11. Père Goriot (1950)
  12. Cousin Bette (1965)
  13. The Black Sheep (1976)
  14. Lost Illusions (1976)
  15. The Wild Ass’s Skin (1977)
  16. The Unknown Masterpiece (1983)
  17. Old Goriot (1987)
  18. Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau (1989)
  19. The Lily of the Valley (1989)
  20. A Woman Of Thirty (2000)

Short Stories/Novellas In Publication Order

  1. My Journey from Paris to Java (1832)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. The Atheist’s Mass, and Other Stories (1986)
  2. Ten droll tales (1987)
  3. Domestic Peace (1989)
  4. The Madwoman of Beresina and Other Napoleonic Plays (With: Alexandre Dumas) (2013)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Treatise on Elegant Living (1830)

Alexandre Dumas Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. The Crimes of the Marquise de Brinvilliers and Others (By:Alexandre Dumas) (2011)
  2. The Madwoman of Beresina and Other Napoleonic Plays (With: Alexandre Dumas) (2013)
  3. Short Stories By Alexandre Dumas, Ten Volumes in One (By:Alexandre Dumas) (2020)

Human Comedy Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

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Alexandre Dumas Short Story Collections Book Covers

Honore de Balzac Books Overview

History of the Thirteen

Passionate and perceptive, the three short novels that make up Balzac’s ‘History of the Thirteen‘ are concerned in part with the activities of a rich, powerful, sinister and unscrupulous secret society in nineteenth century France. While the deeds of ‘The Thirteen’ remain frequently in the background, however, the individual novels are concerned with exploring various forms of desire. A tragic love story, Ferragus depicts a marriage destroyed by suspicion, revelation and misunderstanding. The Duchess de Langeais explores the anguish that results when a society coquette tries to seduce a heroic ex soldier, while ‘The Girl with the Golden Eyes’ offers a frank consideration of desire and sexuality. Together, these works provide a firm and fascinating foundation for Balzac’s many later portrayals of Parisian life in his great novel cycle ‘The Human Comedy’.

The Illustrious Gaudissart

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The Celibates

When the time came to begin their education, disasters came, too. Jacques, left without means at the death of his father, was apprenticed by his relatives to a cabinet maker, and fed by charity, as Pierrette was soon to be at Saint Jacques. Until the little girl was taken with her grandparents to that asylum, she had known nothing but fond caresses and protection from every one. Accustomed to confide in so much love, the little darling missed in these rich relatives, so eagerly desired, the kindly looks and ways which all the world, even strangers and the conductors of the coaches, had bestowed upon her.

The Physiology of Marriage

It is well known that Balzac had two literary careers the first, under a pseudonym, writing blood and thunder romance novels and the second, under his own name, as the creator of La Comedie Humaine, the vast chronicle of ‘contemporary life in all its complexity.’ But, in between these outpourings of fiction, he wrote a work of nonfiction The Physiology of Marriage that brought him his first fame as a writer and introduced his now familiar worldview in which passion is held in check by social advantage and blind innocence is the greatest danger to well being. As forgotten today as Stendhal’s much more ardent On Love is renown, The Physiology of Marriage coolly examines the economics and power relationships of seduction and love. Balzac proposes that marriage and the selection of a wife be treated as a science, and examines topics ranging from moral education to methods for foiling adulterous relationships. For all of its apparent misogyny, the Physiology is surprisingly evenhanded in its rough treatment of both men and women and is said to have been written with the collaboration of two women. Though addressed to a male audience, the book’s lively attack on the stale institution of marriage made it most popular with women readers of its day.”Policy’ in marriage consists of taking advantage of all opportunities offered by the laws, by the system of our morals, by force, and by cunning, for preventing your wife from doing the three things that practically constitute the life of love: writing to her lover, seeing him, and speaking to him.’ from The Physiology of Marriage

The Quest Of The Absolute

HONOR DE BALZAC was born at Tours May 16, 1799. His father had been a barrister before the Revolution, but at the time of Honorbs birth held a post in the Commissariat. His mother was much younger than his father, and survived her son. The novelist was the eldest of a family of four, two sisters being born after him and then a younger brother. At the age of seven he was sent to the Oratorian Grammar School at Vendhe, where he stayed for seven years, without making any reputation for himself in the ordinary school course. Leaving Tours towards the end of 1814, th e Balzacs removed to Paris, where Honor6 was sent to private schools and tutors till he had finished his clas*ses, in 1816. Then he attended lectures at the Sorbonne, and, being destined by his father for the law, he went through the necessary lectures and examinations, attending the offices of an attorney and a notary for three years. Then a notary, a friend of his father, offered to HonorC a place in his office, with a prospect of succeeding him in the business on very favourable terms. As against this, however, Balzac protested he would be a man of letters and nothing else. His protest was successful, but only in a qualified way, for although he was allowed to follow his own bent, it was in solitude and with meagre supplies that he did so. His family had left Paris at about this time, and he remained in a sparsely furnished garret with an old woman to look after him. For ten years this period of probation lasted, although he did not remain in the garret the whole of this time. We know, in detail, very little of him during this period. There are a good many of his letters during the first three years 1819 22 t o his elder sister, Laure, who was his first confidante, and later his only authoritative biographer. Between 1822 and 1829, when he first made his mark, there are very few of his letters. What concerns us most is, that in these ten years he wrote very numerous novels, though only ten of them were ever reprinted in the Combdie Humnine, and these all omitted by him in his later arrangements of that stupendous series. He gained little by his writings during these years except experience, though he speaks of receiving sums of sixty, eighty, and one hundred pounds for some of them. One other thing, however, he learnt, which lasted him his life, but never did him the least good this was the love of speculation. Amongst other businesses by which he thought to make money was that of publishing, and afterwards printing and typefounding. I t was with Les Chouans that Balzac made his first distinct success, and in the three years following 1829, besides doing much journalistic and other literary work, he published the following La Maison du Chat qui pelote, the Peau dc Chagrin, most of the short Contes Philosophiques, and many other stories, chiefly included in the Sdnes dc la Vie Pvivbc. It cannot be said that he ever mixed much in society it was impossible that he should do so, considering the vast amount of work he did and the manner in which he did it. His practice was to dine lightly about five or six next to go to bed and sleep till eleven, twelve, or one and then get up, and with the help only of enormous quantities of very strong coffee, to work for indefinite stretches of time into the morning or afternoon of the next day, often for sixteen hours at a time. The first draft of his work never presented it in anything like fulness, sometimes not amounting to more than a quarter of its final bulk, then, upon slip proof with broad margins, he would almost rewrite it, making excisions, alterations, and, most of all, additions. There is really very little biographical detail to be stated…

Seraphita

Seraphita is a book written by Honore de Balzac. It is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great novel will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Seraphita is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Honore de Balzac is highly recommended. Published by Quill Pen Classics and beautifully produced, Seraphita would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone’s personal library.

Melmoth réconcilié

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La Rabouilleuse

Also Illustrated After Paintings By Pierre Vidal.

The Country Parson

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About Catherine de Medici

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www. million books. com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART I THE CALV1N1ST MARTYR Few persons in these days know how artless were the dwellings of the citizens of Paris in the sixteenth century, and how simple their lives. This very simplicity of habits and thought perhaps was the cause of the greatness of this primitive citizen class for they were certainly great, free and noble, more so perhaps than the citizens of our time. Their history remains to be written; it requires and awaits a man of genius. Inspired by an incident which, though little known, forms the basis of this narrative, and is one of the most remarkable in the history of the citizen class, this reflection will no doubt occur to every one who shall read it to the end. Is it the first time in history that the conclusion has come before the facts ? In 1560, the houses of the Rue de la Vieille Pelleterie lay close to the left bank of the Seine, between the Pont Notre Dame and the Pont au Change. The public way and the houses occupied the ground now given up to the single path of the present quay. Each house, rising from the river, had a way down to it by stone or wooden steps, defended by strong iron gates, or doors of nail studded timber. These houses, like those of Venice, had a door to the land and one to the water. At the moment of writing this sketch, only one house remains of this kind as a reminiscence of old Paris, and that is doomed soon to disappear; it stands at the cornerof the Petit Pont, the little bridge facing the guard house of the Hotel Dieu. Of old each dwelling presented, on the river side, the peculiar physiognomy stamped on it either by the trade and the habits of its owners, or by the eccentricity of the constructions devised by them for utilising or defiling the Seine. The bridges being built, and almost all choked up by more mills th…

Eugénie Grandet

‘Who is going to marry Eugenie Grandet?’
This is the question that fills the minds of the inhabitants of Saumur, the setting for Eugenie Grandet 1833, one of the earliest and most famous novels in Balzac’s Comedie humaine. The Grandet household, oppressed by the exacting miserliness of Grandet himself, is jerked violently out of routine by the sudden arrival of Eugenie’s cousin Charles, recently orphaned and penniless. Eugenie’s emotional awakening, stimulated by her love for her cousin, brings her into direct conflict with her father, whose cunning and financial success are matched against her determination to rebel.
Eugenie’s moving story is set against the backdrop of provincial oppression, the vicissitudes of the wine trade, and the workings of the financial system in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It is both a poignant portrayal of private life and a vigorous fictional document of its age.

Père Goriot

Pere Goriot, by Honore de Balzac, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences biographical, historical, and literary to enrich each reader’s understanding of these enduring works. A supreme observer and chronicler of nineteenth century French society, Honor de Balzac wrote a vast number of novels and short stories collectively known as The Human Comedy. These books were unsurpassed for their narrative drive and scope, their large casts of vibrant, diverse, and interesting characters, and their obsessive interest in and examination of virtually all spheres of life. The greatest of these novels is P re Goriot, which opens in a dirty boarding house where three of the novel’s main characters live. Goriot is a father who sacrifices his wealth and health so that his two daughters can gain access to Parisian high society. He pays off their debts, succumbs to their lavish demands, and receives nothing but scorn in return. His fellow boarder is the mysterious Vautrin, one of Balzac s most remarkable creations. A criminal mastermind, Vautrin recognizes that the social contract is nothing but a fraud for those without money and power. Finally, there is Rastignac, who represents one of Balzac s favorite themes the ambitious young provincial fighting for advancement in the competitive world of Paris. With Goriot and Vautrin acting as surrogate fathers, Rastignac begins his climb up the social ladder only to discover that there is a spiritual cost to be paid for life s apparent prizes. Peter Connor is Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Barnard College, Columbia University. He is the author of Georges Bataille and the Mysticism of Sin Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. He has translated Bataille s The Tears of Eros City Lights Press, 1989, as well as many works in the area of contemporary French philosophy, including The Inoperative Community, by Jean Luc Nancy University of Minnesota Press, 1991.

Cousin Bette

The Blotting Book CHAPTER I MRS. ASSHETON’S house in Sussex Square, Brighton, was appointed with that finish of smooth stateliness which robs stateliness of its formality, and conceals the amount of trouble and personal attention which has, originally in any case, been spent on the production of the smoothness. Everything moved with the regularity of the solar system, and, superior to that wild rush of heavy bodies through infinite ether, there was never the slightest fear of comets streaking their unconjectured way across the sky, or meteorites falling on unsuspicious picnicers. In Mrs. Assheton’s 3 The Blotting Book CHAPTER I MRS. ASSHETON’S house in Sussex Square, Brighton, was appointed with that finish of smooth stateliness which robs stateliness of its formality, and conceals the amount of trouble and personal attention which has, originally in any case, been spent on the production of the smoothness. Everything moved with the regularity of the solar system, and, supeTable of Contents Contents; X*X A brief Duel between Marechal Hulot, Comte de Forzheim, and His Excellency monseigneur le MaRECHAL; Cottin, Prince de Wissembourg, Due d’Orfano, Minister of War X*XI The Departure of the Prodigal Father X*XII The Sword of Damocles; X*XIII Devils and Angels Harnessed to the; same Car; X*XIV Vengeance in pursuit of Valerie X*XV A Dinner party of Lorettes ; X*XVI The Cheap Parisian Paradise of 1840 X*XVII Fulfilment of Valerie’s Jesting Prophecies ; X*XVIII Return of the Prodigal Father ; vn Page; 402 418 439; 456 479 495 507; 522 537About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books’ Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attentio

The Black Sheep

Philippe and Joseph Bridau are two extremely different brothers. The elder, Philippe, is a superficially heroic soldier and adored by their mother Agathe. He is nonetheless a bitter figure, secretly gambling away her savings after a brief but glorious career in Napoleon’s army. His younger brother Joseph, meanwhile, is fundamentally virtuous but their mother is blinded to his kindness by her disapproval of his life as an artist. Foolish and prejudiced, Agathe lives on unaware that she is being cynically manipulated by her own favourite child, but will she ever discover which of her sons is truly The Black Sheep of the family? A dazzling depiction of the power of money and the cruelty of life in nineteenth century France, The Black Sheep compellingly explores is a compelling exploration of the nature of deceit.

Lost Illusions

Lost Illusions, by Honore de Balzac, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences biographical, historical, and literary to enrich each reader’s understanding of these enduring works. Among the best known of Balzac’s novels, Lost Illusions chronicles the rise and fall of Lucien Chardon, a vain but naive young poet who leaves his provincial home to seek success and fortune in Parisian society. Paralleling Lucien s disastrously ambitious journey is the story of his friend and brother in law, hard working inventor David S chard, who is beset by unscrupulous competitors and cheated in his printing business by his own father. Considered the founder of French realism, Balzac painted equally faithful pictures of the glittering but superficial world of society and the lonely struggle of impoverished men of genius. The city has a corrosive effect on Lucien s artistic talent and moral strength, while David takes a brave stand against the constraints of provincial small mindedness. Balzac plays out their contrasting but intertwined stories against the enduring themes of love, ambition, greed, loyalty, vanity, and betrayal. Will Lucien s debts be the ruin of both? Published between 1837 and 1843, Lost Illusions is part of La Com die Humaine, into which Balzac grouped more than ninety interlocking novels. In Lost Illusions, scores of minor characters from these other works help bring early nineteenth century France to brilliant life. Marie Rose Logan received her Ph.D. from Yale and has held teaching appointments at Yale, Rice, Temple, and Columbia. Professor Logan is a recipient of the French government s Palmes Acad miques and of awards from several foundations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Wild Ass’s Skin

Balzac is concerned with the choice between ruthless self gratification and asceticism, dissipation and restraint, in a novel that is powerful in its symbolism and realistic depiction of decadence.

The Unknown Masterpiece

‘Le Chef d’ uvre inconnu’ English ‘The Unknown Masterpiece‘ is a short story by Honor de Balzac. It was first published in the newspaper L’Artiste with the title ‘Ma tre Frenhofer’ English: ‘Master Frenhofer’ in August 1831. It appeared again later in the same year under the title ‘Catherine Lescault, conte fantastique.’ It was published in Balzac’s tudes philosophiques in 1837 and was integrated into the La Com die humaine in 1846. At the most fundamental level, ‘Le Chef d’ uvre inconnu’ is a reflection on art. The story concerns young Nicolas Poussin, an artist as yet unknown to the world, who visits the painter Porbus in his workshop. He is accompanied by the old master Frenhofer who comments expertly on the large tableau that Porbus has just finished. The painting is of Mary of Egypt, and while Frenhofer sings her praises, he hints that the work seems unfinished. With some slight touches of the paintbrush, Frenhofer transforms Porbus’ painting such that Mary the Egyptian appears to come alive before their very eyes. Although Frenhofer has mastered his technique, he admits that he has been unable to find a suitable model for his own masterpiece, La Belle noiseuse, on which he has been working for ten years. This future masterpiece, that no one has yet seen, is to be the portrait of Catherine Lescault. Poussin offers his own lover, Gilette, as a potential model.

Old Goriot

Pere Goriot, by Honore de Balzac, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences biographical, historical, and literary to enrich each reader’s understanding of these enduring works. A supreme observer and chronicler of nineteenth century French society, Honor de Balzac wrote a vast number of novels and short stories collectively known as The Human Comedy. These books were unsurpassed for their narrative drive and scope, their large casts of vibrant, diverse, and interesting characters, and their obsessive interest in and examination of virtually all spheres of life. The greatest of these novels is P re Goriot, which opens in a dirty boarding house where three of the novel’s main characters live. Goriot is a father who sacrifices his wealth and health so that his two daughters can gain access to Parisian high society. He pays off their debts, succumbs to their lavish demands, and receives nothing but scorn in return. His fellow boarder is the mysterious Vautrin, one of Balzac s most remarkable creations. A criminal mastermind, Vautrin recognizes that the social contract is nothing but a fraud for those without money and power. Finally, there is Rastignac, who represents one of Balzac s favorite themes the ambitious young provincial fighting for advancement in the competitive world of Paris. With Goriot and Vautrin acting as surrogate fathers, Rastignac begins his climb up the social ladder only to discover that there is a spiritual cost to be paid for life s apparent prizes. Peter Connor is Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Barnard College, Columbia University. He is the author of Georges Bataille and the Mysticism of Sin Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. He has translated Bataille s The Tears of Eros City Lights Press, 1989, as well as many works in the area of contemporary French philosophy, including The Inoperative Community, by Jean Luc Nancy University of Minnesota Press, 1991.

Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau

Honore de Balzac lived most of his life one step from his creditors; his house in Paris even had a special exit for avoiding them. No one knew more about money problems than Balzac, and this is his subject in _Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau_ one of Balzac’s greatest novels. It is the story of Cesar Birotteau, an honest perfumer who is lured into overextending himself. This luring is the work of the unsavory du Tillet, an employee Birotteau fired for embezzlement. The Embezzler works in secret to take revenge. And take it he does: Birotteau falls hard. But all is not lost not yet. Anselme Popinot, a brilliant young marketer in love with Birotteau’s daughter, works to help Birotteau recover. Perhaps together they can recover Birotteau’s honor perhaps. Honore de Balzac lived most of his life one step from his creditors; his house in Paris even had a special exit for avoiding them. No one knows more about money problems than Balzac, and this is his subject in _Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau_ one of Balzac’s greatest novels. It is the story of Cesar Birotteau, an honest perfumer who is lured into overextending himself. This luring is the work of the unsavory du Tillet, an employee Birotteau fired for embezzlement. The Embezzler works in secret to take revenge. And take it he does: Birotteau falls hard. Bankruptcy ignominious bankruptcy is in the cards. But all is not lost not yet. Anselme Popinot, a brilliant young marketer in love with Birotteau’s daughter, works to help Birotteau recover. Perhaps together they can recover Birotteau’s honor perhaps. Jacketless library hardcover.

The Lily of the Valley

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A Woman Of Thirty

It was a Sunday morning in the beginning of April 1813, a morning which gave promise of one of those bright days when Parisians, for the first time in the year, behold dry pavements underfoot and a cloudless sky overhead. It was not yet noon when a luxurious cabriolet, drawn by two spirited horses, turned out of the Rue de Castiglione into the Rue de Rivoli, and drew up behind a row of carriages standing before the newly opened barrier half way down the Terrasse de Feuillants. The owner of the carriage looked anxious and out of health; the thin hair on his sallow temples, turning gray already, gave a look of premature age to his face. He flung the reins to a servant who followed on horseback, and alighted to take in his arms a young girl whose dainty beauty had already attracted the eyes of loungers on the Terrasse. The little lady, standing upon the carriage step, graciously submitted to be taken by the waist, putting an arm round the neck of her guide, who set her down upon the pavement without so much as ruffling the trim*ming of her green rep dress. No lover would have been so careful. The stranger could only be the father of the young girl, who took his arm familiarly without a word of thanks, and hurried him into the Garden of the Tuileries.

Domestic Peace

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Treatise on Elegant Living

Honore de Balzac’s 1830 Treatise on Elegant Living was a keystone text on dandyism, preceding Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly’s Anatomy of Dandyism 1845 and Charles Baudelaire’s ‘The Dandy’ in The Painter of Modern Life, 1863, and marking an important shift from the early dandyism of the British Regency to the intellectual and artistic dandyism of nineteenth century France. The Treatise is the first true philosophical expression of dandyism, and is full of well crafted aphorisms: ‘Elegant living is, in the broad acceptance of the term, the art of animating repose,’ runs one classic definition of dandyism, and ‘One must have studied at least as far as rhetoric to lead an elegant life’ asserts the importance of verbal pirouette and dexterous quipping to the dandy. Further embellished with anecdotes and historical and personal illustrations, Balzac’s Treatise even features a fictitious encounter with the original dandy himself, Beau Brummell. Never before translated into English, this witty tract makes for an illuminating cornerstone to Balzac’s Human Comedy which was originally to have included a never completed four part philosophical ‘Pathology of Social Life’. Above all, it represents a decisive moment in the history of dandyism, and an entertaining exposition on the profundities of what lies deepest within all of us: our appearance.

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