Produced by John Bickers and Dagny Wilson
First published 1904.
Books about Balzac would fill a fair-sized library. Criticisms on hisnovels abound, and his contemporaries have provided us with severalamusing volumes dealing in a humorous spirit with his eccentricities,and conveying the impression that the author of "La Cousine Bette" and"Le Pere Goriot" was nothing more than an amiable buffoon.
Nevertheless, by some strange anomaly, there exists no Life of himderived from original sources, incorporating the information availablesince the appearance of the volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere."This book, which is the source of much of our present knowledge ofBalzac, is a collection of letters written by him from 1833 to 1844 toMadame Hanska, the Polish lady who afterwards became his wife. Theletters are exact copies of the originals, having been made by theVicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, to whom the autographs belong.
It seems curious that no one should yet have made use of this mine ofbiographical detail. In English we have a Memoir by Miss Wormeley,written at a time when little as known about the great novelist, and aLife by Mr. Frederick Wedmore in the "Great Writers" Series; but this,like Miss Wormeley's Memoir, appeared before the "Lettres al'Etrangere" were published. Moreover, it is a very small book, andthe space in it devoted to Balzac as a man is further curtailed byseveral chapters devoted to criticism of his work. The introduction tothe excellent translation of Balzac's novels undertaken by Mr.Saintsbury, contains a short account of his life, but this only fillsa few pages and does not enter into much detail. Besides these, anadmirable essay on Balzac has appeared in "Main Currents ofNineteenth-century Literature," by Mr. George Brandes; the scope ofthis, however, is mainly criticism of his merits as a writer, notdescription of his personality and doings.
Even in the French language, there is no trustworthy or satisfactoryLife of Balzac—a fact on which numerous critical writers make manycomments, though they apparently hesitate to throw themselves into thebreach and to undertake one. Madame Surville's charming Memoir onlyprofesses to treat of Balzac's early life, and even within theselimits she intentionally conceals as much as she reveals. M. EdmondBire, in his interesting book, presents Balzac in different aspects,as Royalist, playwriter, admirer of Napoleon, and so on; but M. Biregives no connected account of his life, while MM. Hanotaux and Vicairedeal solely with Balzac's two years as printer and publisher. TheVicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul is the one man who could give adetailed and minutely correct Life of Balzac, as he has proved by thestores of biographical knowledge contained in his works the "Romand'Amour," "Autour de Honore de Balzac," "La Genese d'un Roman deBalzac, 'Les Paysans,'" and above all, "L'Histoire des Oeuvres deBalzac," which has become a classic. The English or American readerwould hardly be able to appreciate these fascinating books, however,unless he were first equipped with the knowledge of Balzac which wouldbe provided by a concise Life.
In these circumstances, helped and encouraged by Dr. Emil Reich, whoseextremely interesting lectures I had attended with much enjoyment, andwho very kindly gave me lists of books, and assisted me with advice, Iengaged in the task