Droll Stories

by Honore de Balzac

Published 1 December 1944
This unabridged edition of these famous tales, marvelous for their graceful impudence and sly artistry, has been re-edited and revised by Ernest Boyd so as to bring it as close as possible to the original. "In his preface," wrote Professor George Saintsbury, "Balzac acknowledged his indebtedness to his master Rabelais; and, to be sure, the points of likeness between those two great Frenchmen are striking. They both put on a mask of comedy and rakishness in order to write with more freedom about manners, customs, politics and religion."

Le Pere Goriot

by Honore de Balzac

Published 1 December 1960
This French realist novel contrasts the social progress of an impoverished but ambitious aristocrat with the tale of a father, whose obsessive love for his daughters leads to his personal and financial ruin.
This concise supplement to Honore De Balzac's Pere Goriot helps students understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.

Unknown Masterpiece

by Honore de Balzac

Published February 1984
A New York Review Books Original

One of Honoré de Balzac's most celebrated tales, "The Unknown Masterpiece" is the story of a painter who, depending on one's perspective, is either an abject failure or a transcendental genius—or both. The story, which has served as an inspiration to artists as various as Cézanne, Henry James, Picasso, and New Wave director Jacques Rivette, is, in critic Dore Ashton's words, a "fable of modern art."

Published here in a new translation by poet Richard Howard, "The Unknown Masterpiece" appears, as Balzac intended, with "Gambara," a grotesque and tragic novella about a musician undone by his dreams.