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For further information about Balzac, you may wish to consult these resources:

  • Balzac and his World by Felicien Marceau (London, New York, 1967)

  • Balzac, Le Napoléon des Lettres by Gérard Gingembre (Paris, Découvertes Gallimard, 1992), available only in French but an excellent resource.

  • Balzac by V.S. Pritchett (New York, Harmony Books, 1973)

  • Several works by Balzac are available online at the ABU site.

  • Many works by Balzac are available online at the Bibliothèque nationale de France web site.

  • This site offers not only texts online but also links to concordances of Balzac's works.

The Wikipedia article on Balzac lists in English the titles comprising the Comédie humaine:

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 or Paz
A Study of Woman
Another Study of 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 Settlement or A Marriage Contract
A Start in Life
Modeste Mignon
Beatrix
Honorine
Colonel Chabert
The Atheist's Mass
The Commission in Lunacy
Pierre Grassou

SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE

Ursule Mirouet
Eugenie 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:--
I. The Two Poets
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1
Lost Illusions:--II.
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2
Eve and David

SCENES FROM PARISIAN LIFE

Scenes from a Courtesan's Life:
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 Unconscious Humorists or The Unconscious Comedians
The Thirteen:
Ferragus
The Duchesse de Langeais
The Girl with the Golden Eyes
Father Goriot
The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau
The Firm of Nucingen
The Secrets of a Princess or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan
The Government Clerks
Bureaucracy
Sarrasine
Facine Cane
Poor Relations:--I.
Cousin Betty
Poor Relations:--II.
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 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
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

The text of the Balzac story which appears here was taken from the ABU site (Association des bibliophiles universels). It was edited for that site by Jean-Paul Bret (jpbret@dialup.francenet.fr).