Honoré de Balzac [1799-1850]
Biographical note
Nineteenth-century French novelist, one of the creators of Realism in literature. His Human Comedy (La Comédie humaine), spanning more than 90 novels and short stories, is a broad, often satirical panorama of French society, particularly the petite bourgeoisie, in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte.
Along with Gustave Flaubert (whose work he influenced), Balzac is generally regarded as a founding father of realism in
European literature. Balzac's novels, most of which are farcical comedies, feature a large cast of well-defined characters,
and descriptions in exquisite detail of the scene of action.
See also:
- Books and Writers
- Wikipedia
Balzac, by Frederick Lawton- Honore de Balzac, by Albert Keim and Louis Lumet
Works
Balzac's final plan [1845] of the Comédie Humaine is as follows :
Studies of Manners
Scenes From Private Life
- At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
- The Ball at Sceaux
- The Purse
- The Vendetta
- Madame Firmiani
- A Second Home
- Domestic Peace
- The Imaginary Mistress (Alternative Title:
'Paz')
- Study of a Woman
- Another Study of a Woman
- La Grand Breteche
- Albert Savarus
- Letters of Two Brides
- A Daughter of Eve
- A Woman of Thirty
- The Deserted Woman
- La Grenadiere
- The Message
- Gobseck
- A Marriage Contract
- A Start in Life
- Modeste Mignon
- Beatrix
- Honorine
- Le Colonel Chabert
- The Atheist's Mass
The Commission in Lunacy- Pierre Grassou
Scenes From Provincial Life
- Ursule Mirouet
- Eugénie Grandet
- The Celibates:
- Pierrette
- The Vicar of Tours
- A Bachelor's Establishment
- The Two Brothers
- The Black Sheep
- Parisians in the Country:
- Gaudissart the Great; or The Illustrious Gaudissart
- The Muse of the Department
- The Jealousies of a Country Town:
- The Old Maid
- The Collection of Antiquities
- The Lily of the Valley
- Lost Illusions (Les Illusions perdues):
-
Introduction by George Saintsbury
- Two Poets
- A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
- Eve and David
Scenes From Parisian Life
- Scenes from a Courtesan's Life (Splendeurs et
misères des courtisanes):
- Esther Happy
- What Love Costs an Old Man
- The End of Evil Ways
- Vautrin's Last Avatar
- A Prince of Bohemia
- A Man of Business
- Gaudissart II
- The Unwitting Actors or The Unwitting Comedians
- The Thirteen:
- Ferragus
- The Duchesse de Langeais
- The Girl with the Golden Eyes
- Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot)
- The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau
- The Firm of Nucingen
- The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan
- The Government Clerks
- Bureaucracy
- Sarrasine
- Facino Cane
- Poor Relations:--
- Cousin Bette (La Cousine Bette)
- Cousin Pons
- The Middle Classes or The Lesser Bourgeoise
Scenes From Political Life
- The Gondreville Mystery or An Historical Mystery
- An Episode Under the Terror
- The Seamy Side of History: or The Brotherhood of Consolation:
- Madame de la Chanterie
- Initiated or The Initiate
- Z. Marcas
- The Member for Arcis or The Deputy for Arcis
Scenes From Military Life
- The Chouans
- A Passion in the Desert
Scenes From Country Life
- The Country Doctor
- The Country Parson or The Village Rector
- The Peasantry or Sons of the Soil
Philosophical Studies
- The Magic Skin /The Wild Ass's Skin (La Peau de
Chagrin)
- The Quest of the Absolute or The Alkahest
- Christ in Flanders
- Melmoth Reconciled
- The Unknown Masterpiece or The Hidden Masterpiece
- The Hated Son
- Gambara
- Massimilla Doni
- The Maranas or Juana
- Farewell
- Adieu
- The Conscript or The Recruit
- El Verdugo
- A Seaside Tragedy or A Drama on the Seashore
- The Red Inn
- The Elixir of Life
- Maitre Cornelius
- About Catherine de' Medici
- The Calvinist Martyr
- The Ruggieri's Secret
- The Two Dreams
- Louis Lambert
- The Exiles
- Seraphita
Analytical Studies
- Physiology of Marriage
- Pathology of the Social Life