NOTE. B ALZAC is a great subject, and this is a small book. But it is a book for a series in which compression is a necessity. And, moreover, my methods of work are. incompatible with the production of extensive volumes. A literary task, as I conceive it, is generally ill executed if, when it is done, the labour of omission, though chiefly concealed, is not found to have been its heaviest part. Obligations to all sorts of books may, if one is working upon Balzac, be taken for granted. They are unmistakable and important—even if amidst the mass of miscellaneous material, and amidst Critical writings of high value, there is discovered no single Biography at once broad in conception and finished in treatment. Let the less obvious debt to many friends-who, on one point or on another, are especially qualified to criticize or counsel-be gratefully acknowledged. LONDON, December, 1889. F. W. CONTENTS. - Balzac an immortal; birth and parentage; he is typically Balzac's tragedy a failure; learns gradually the art of narrative; writes under pseudonyms; signs the "Chouans"; his admiration of Sir Walter Scott; "La Maison du Chat- Balzac's energy, and unremitting application; correspondence; his genius for friendship; regard for fellow-workers; friend- ships with women; Madame de Berny; Madame Zulma Carraud; the Duchesse d'Abrantès; the anonymous IT His deep belief in his own characters; the "Peau de Chagrin ' and its place; the philosophic stories; Monsieur Taine's judgment on them; public acceptance of the "Peau The "Médecin de Campagne"; Balzac's ambition with regard to it; it is "l'évangile en action"; the method he adopts in it; Mr. Henry James, who minimizes Balzac's goodness and geniality; the character of Benassis; the "Curé de Tours"; the Abbé Birotteau's character; he is found Balzac hangs upon the verdict of his friends; the public disappoints him; debts and disputes; he begins to group The chief characteristics of “ Eugénie Grandet”; the heroine's ideal; Balzac addresses himself to the "Lear" of the bourgeoisie; Le Père Goriot, and how his daughters keep |