French journalist and writer, one of the creators of realism in literature. Balzac's huge production of novels and short stories are collected under the name La Comédie humaine, which originated from Dante's The Divine Comedy. Before his breakthrough as an author, Balzac wrote without success several plays and novels under different pseudonyms. Despite prolific output, Balzac lived in debt.

"...Well, Balzac was politically a legitimist; his great work is a constant elegy on the irreparable decay of good society; his sympathies are with the class that is doomed to extinction. But for all that, his satire is never keener, his irony never more bitter, than when he sets in motion the very men and women with whom he sympathizes most deeply - the nobles..." (Friedrich Engels in 1888)

Honoré de Balzac was born in Tours. His father, Bernard-François Balssa, named his son after St Honoré whose day had just been celebrated. He had risen to the middle class, and married in 1797 the daughter of his Parisian superior, Anne-Charlotte-Laure Sallambier; she was 31 years his junior. The marriage was arranged by her father. Bernard-François had worked as a state prosecutor and Secretary to the King's Council in Paris. During the French Revolution, he was a member of the Commune, but was transferred to Tours in 1795 because of helping his former royalistic protectors. Bernard-François felt at home in the land of Rabelais, and started energetically to run the local hospital. In 1814 the family moved back to Paris.

Balzac spent the first four years of life in foster care, not so uncommon a practice in France even in the 20th century. His first years he lived in the village of Saint-Cyr, and returned to his parents at the age of four. At school Balzac was an ordinary pupil. He studied at the Collège de Vendôme and the Sorbonne, and then worked in law offices. In 1819, when his family moved for financial reasons to the small town of Villeparisis, Balzac announced that he wanted to be a writer. He returned to Paris and was installed in a shabby room at 9 rue Lediguiéres, near the Bibliothéque de l'Arsenal. A few years later he described the place in LA PEAU DE CHARGIN (1831), a fantastic tale owing much to E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822). Balzac's first work was CROMWELL. The tragedy in verse made the whole family dispirited. Towards the end of his career his attention turned to drama again, but this time his plays, such as VAUTRIN (1840) and LA MARÂTRE (1848), were well received by the critics.

By 1822 Balzac had produced several novels under pseudonyms, but he was ignored as a writer. Against his family's hopes, Balzac continued his career in literature, believing that the simplest road to success was writing. Unfortunately, he also tried his skills in business. Balzac ran a publishing company and he bought a printing house, which did not have much to print. When these commercial activities failed, Balzac was left with a heavy burden of debt. It plagued him to the end of his career. "All happiness depends on courage and work," Balzac once said. "I have had many periods of wretchedness, but with energy and above all with illusions, I pulled through them all."

After the period of failures, Balzac was 29 years old, and his efforts had been fruitless. Accepting the hospitality of General de Pommereul, he spent a short time at their home in Fougères in Brittany in search of a local color for his new novel. In 1829 appeared LA DERNIER CHOUAN (later called LES CHOUANS), a historical work in the manner of Sir Walter Scott, which he wrote under his own name. Gradually Balzac began to gain notice as an author. Between the years 1830 and 1832 he composed six novelettes titled SCÈNES DE LA VIE PRIVÉE. The work, addressed more or less to a female readership, was first published in La Presse.

Madame Balzac was interested in the writings of mystics. When she miraculously recovered from an illness, Balzac started to study the works of Jacob Boehme, Swedenborg, and followed Anton Mesmer's lectures about 'animal magnetism' at Sorbonne. These influences are seen in La peau de chargin, in which the hero character uses magical powers to gain success. The 'philosophical' novel brought Balzac about 5,000 francs.

In 1833 Balzac conceived the idea of linking together his old novels so that they would comprehend the whole society in a series of books. This plan eventually led to 90 novels and novellas, which included more than 2,000 characters. Balzac's huge and ambitious plan drew a picture of the customs, atmosphere, and habits of the bourgeois France. Balzac got down to the work with great energy, but also found time to pile up huge debts and fail in hopeless financial operations. "I am not deep," the author once said, "but very wide." Once he developed a plan to gain success in raising pineapples at his home at Ville d'Avray (Sevres). After two two years, he had to flee from his creditors and conceal his identity under the name of his housekeeper, Madame de Brugnolle.

In the 'Avant-propos' to The Human Comedy from 1842 Balzac compares under the influence of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's theories of the animal kingdom and human society. "Does not Society make of man, according to the milieu in which his activity takes places, as many different men as there are varieties in zoology?" However, Balzac sees that human life and human customs are more multifarious and there are dramatic conflicts in love which seldom occur among animals.

Among the masterpieces of The Human Comedy are LE PÉRE GORIOT, LES ILLUSIONS PERDUES, LES PAYSANS, LA FEMME DE TRENTE ANS, and EUGÉNIE GRANDET. In these books Balzac covered a world from Paris to Provinces. The primary landscape is Paris, with its old aristocracy, new financial wealth, middle-class trade, demi-monde, professionals, servants, young intellectuals, clerks, criminals... In this social mosaic Balzac had recurrent characters, such as Eugène Rastignac, who comes from an impoverished provincial family to Paris, mixes with the nobility, pursues wealth, has many mistresses, gambles, and has a successful political career. Henry de Marsay appeared in twenty-five different novels. There are many anecdotes about Balzac's relationship to his characters, who also lived in the author's imagination outside the novels. Once Balzac interrupted one of his friends, who was telling about his sister's illness, by saying: "That's all very well, but let's get back to reality: to whom are we going to marry Eugénie Grandet?"

"Balzac himself always speaks of his characters as of natural phenomena, and when he wants to describe his artistic intentions, he never speaks of his psychology, but always of his sociology, of his natural history of society and of the function of the individual in the life of the social body. He became, anyhow, the master of the social novel, if not as the 'doctor of the social sciences', as he described himself, yet as the founder of the new conception of man, according to which 'the individual exists only in relation to society'." (Arnold Hauser in Social History of Art, vol. 4, 1962)

Le Père Goriot (1835), originally published in the Revue de Paris in 1834, appeared in book form in 1835. The story is an adaptation of Shakespeare's play King Lear, a pessimistic study of bourgeois society's ills after the French Revolution. It tells the intertwined stories of Eugène de Rastignac, an ambitious but penniless young man, and old Goriot, a father who sacrifices everything for his children. His daughters Anastaria and Delphine are married into a rich family. They are ashamed of their father and visit him only to ask for money. Rastignac falls in love with Delphine. Goriot has gradually lost all his money, not having enough for even a proper burial. On his death bed Goriot learns about his daughters' egoism - they don't come to see him. Admitting his own guilt, Goriot forgives his daughters. Rastignac pays the expenses of the burial. Goriot's coffin is followed by the empty luxurious carriages of the daughters. Balzac describes lovingly the topography of Paris, his Muse. The city is one of the characters, and has a language and will of its own: "Left alone, Rastignac walked a few steps to the highest part of the cemetery, and saw Paris spread out below on both banks of the winding Seine. Lights were beginning to twinkle here and there. His gaze fixed almost avidly upon the space that lay between the column of the Place Vendôme and the dome of the Invalides; there lay the splendid world that he wished to conquer." (from Old Goriot, 1835)

Balzac worked often in Saché, near Tours, although a great part of his work was done in Paris. From 1828-36 he lived at 1 rue Cassini, near the Observatory, on the edge of the city. In 1847 he moved to the Rue Fortunée. Balzac used to energetically write 14 to 16 hours daily, drinking large amounts of specially blended Parisian coffee. After supper he slept some hours, woke up at midnight and wrote until morning. Despite his devotion to his art, Balzac had time for affairs and he enjoyed life. It is told that Balzac once devoured first 100 oysters, and then 12 lamb chops with vegetables and fruits.

LA COUSIN BETTE (1846) contained thinly veiled autobiographical elements of the author's love affairs. In the story a spinster, Cousin Bette, tries to gain revenge for all her disappointments against her family and the beautiful courtesan Valerie Marneffe. The aristocratic Baron Hulot d'Evry, whom Bette had wanted to marry, had married her cousin, Adeline. She also loses her new love, Count Wenceslas Steinbock, to Baron Hulot's daughter. Valerie seduces Hulot, who has several mistresses, and Steinbock. After some financial troubles Hulot escapes into the slums, where Adeline finds him. Bette falls ill with pneumonia and dies. Hulot continues his affairs with a cook, and finally marries the cook's apprentice.

Gervais Charpentier published the best novels of Balzac in a new format, the octodecimo "jésus" - it was much cheaper than the traditional octavo volume. Balzac lived mostly in his villa in Sèvres during his later years. Close to his heart was Madame de Berny, far his senior; her death came as a deep blow to the author. With Eveline Hanska, a rich Polish lady, Balzac corresponded for more than 15 years. The correspondence started in 1832. Eveline Hanska posed as a model for some of his feminine portraits (Madame Hulot in LA COUSINE BETTE, 1847). "I cannot put two ideas together that you don't come between them," Balzac wrote in a letter to her.

In the spring of 1837, Balzac went to Italy to recuperate, and to see the bust of Madame Hanska, made by Bartolini. He also asked her permission to have a copy of it, half size, made for himself. In October 1848 Balzac travelled to Ukraine. Madame Hanska's husband had died in 1841 and Balzac could now stay with her a longer time. His health had already broken down, but they were married in March 1850. "Three days ago I married the only woman I have ever loved," Balzac wrote in a letter to a friend, forgeting other women in his life. He returned with his newly wed wife to Paris, where he died on August 18, 1850. At his funeral Victor Hugo delivered an address, saying: "Today we see him at peace. He has escaped from controversies and enmities..... Henceforward he will shine far above all those clouds which float over our heads, among the brightest stars of his native land."

For further reading: Balzac, ed. by Michael Tilby (1995); Balzac: A Life by Graham Robb (1994); Critical Essays on Honore de Balzac by Martin Kanes (1990); Honore de Balzac by Theophile Gautier (1989, paparback); Honore de Balzac: Old Goriot by David Bellos (1988); Balzac and the Drama of Perspective by Joan Dargan (1985); Balzac and the French Revolution by Ronnie Butler (1983); Balzac, James, and the Realistic Novel by William W. Stowe (1983); Balzac's Comedy of Words by Martin Kanes (1978); Evolution of Balzac's 'Commedie Humaine' by E. Preston Dargan (1942); Balzac by E.R. Curtius (1933); Women in the Life of Balzac by Juanita Helm Floyd (1921) - See also: Stefan Zweig, Isaiah Berlin, Andre Maurois: Prometheus: The Life of Balzac - Note: television film about Balzac's life (1999), starring Gérard Depardieu as the author, Jeanne Moreau as Balzac's mother, and Fanny Ardant as Eveline Hanska. - Museums: Musée Balzac, Château de Saché, 37190 Saché, Indre et Loire - a sixteenth century castle, devoted to the author who lived there between 1829 and 1837; La maison de Balzac, 47 rue Raynourd, Chaillot Quarter - Balzac lived there for seven years. - Suom: Kirjailijalta on myös ilmestynyt suomeksi teos Perijätär, suom. V.A. Koskenniemi (1913) - Other writers born on May 20, on the same day as Honoré de Balzac: William Michaelian, Sigrid Undset.

Selected works:

• L'HÉRITAGE DE BIRAGUE, 1822 (with Le Poitevin de Saint-Alme and Etienne Arago)
• JEAN-LOUIS; OU, LA FILLE TROUVÉE, 1822 (with Le Poitevin de Saint-Alme)
• CLOTILDE DE LUSIGNAN; OU, LE BEAU JUIF, 1822
• LE CENTENNAIRE; OU, LES DEUX BERINGHELD, 1822 (as Le Sorcier, in Oeuvres complètes de Horace de Saint-Aubin, 1837)
• LE VICAIRE DES ARDENNES, 1822
• LE DERNIÈRE FÉE; OU, LA NOUVELLE LAMPE MERVEILLEUSE, 1823
• DU DROIT D'AINESSE, 1824
• HISTOIRE IMPARTIALE DES JÉSUITES, 1824
• ANNETTE ET LE CRIMINEL, 1824
• CODE DES GENS HONNÊTES; OU, L'ART DE NE PAS ÊTRE DUPE DES FRIPONS, 1825
• WANN-CHLORE, 1825 (as Jane la pâle, in Oeuvres complètes, 1836)
• editor: Oeuvres complètes, by La Fontaine, 1826
• editor: Oeuvres complètes, by Molière, 1826
• LE DERNIER CHOUAN; OU, LE BRETAGNE AU 1800, 1829 (rev. ed. as Les Chouans; ou, Le Bretagne en 1799, as Le Chouan, 1838; Scènes de la vie politique) - The Chouans (tr. by Ellen Marriage, 1899; Marion Ayton Crawford; Herbert J. Hunt) - Kapina (suom. Jalmari Hahl) - films: Les Chouans, 1947, dir. Henri Calef, adaptation Pierre Brive, Charles Spaak
• MÉMOIRES POUR SERVIR À L'HISTOIRE DE LA RÉVOLUTION FRANÇAISE, 1829 (with Lheritier de l'Ain)
• LA PHYSIOLOGIE DU MARRIAGE; OU, MÉDITATIONS DE PHILOSOPHIE ÉCLECTIQUE, 1829 (Études analytiques) - The Physiology of Marriage (tr. 1904)
• PETITES MISÈRES DE LA VIE CONJUGALE, 1830, 1840, 1845 - The Petty Annoyances of Married Life (tr. by O.W. Wight and F.B. Goodrich, 1861)
• UN EPISODE SOUS LA TERREUR, 1830 (Scènes de la vie politique) - An Episode Under the Terror (tr. Clara Bell and others)
• LA MAISON DE CHAT-QUI-PELOTE, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
• LA VENDETTA, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Vendetta (tr. c. 1864) - Verikosto (suom. Lauri Laiho)
• LE BAL DE SCEAUX, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Ball at Sceaux (tr. Clara Bell)
• UNE DOUBLE FAMILLE, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - A Double Family / A Second Home (tr. Clara Bell)
• LAS PAIX DE MÉNAGE, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Domestic Peace (tr. Ellen Marriage, Clara Bell)
• ETUDE DE FEMME, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Study of a Woman (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• GOBSECK, 1830 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Gobseck (tr. 1896) - Herra Gobseck (suom. Rauni Puranen) - films: 1937, dir. by Konstantin Eggert, adaptation by Konstantin Eggert, Oleg Leonidov, starring Leonid Leonidov; 1987, dir. Aleksandr Orlov, starring Vladimir Tatosov
• ADIEU, 1830 - Adieu (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• EL VERDUGO, 1830 - El Verdugo (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley) - films: Der Henker, 1920, dir. August Weigert, adaptation J.M. Burkhardt- Benndorf; 1948, dir. Enrique Gómez, prod. Olimpia Films
• L'ELIXIR DE LONGUE VIE, 1830 - The Elixir of Life (tr. Clara Bell and James Waring)
• UNE FILLE D'EVE, 1830-39 (Scènes de la vie privée) - A Daughter of Eve (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• UNE PASSION DANS LE DÉSERT, 1830 (Scènes de la vie politique) - A Passion in the Desert (tr. Ernest Dowson) - film 1997, dir. by Lavinia Currier, starring Ben Daniels, Michel Piccoli, Paul Meston, Nadia Odeh, Kenneth Collard
• LE PEAU DE CHAGRIN, 1831 - The Magic Skin (tr. 1888) / The Wild Ass's Skin (in Human Comedy, 1895-98) / Wild Ass's Skin (tr. by Herbert J. Hunt) / The Fatal Skin (tr. Atwood H. Townsend) - Taikatalja (suom. 1934) - films: 1909, dir. Albert Capellani, prod. Pathé Frères; The Magic Skin, dir. Richard Ridgely, prod. Edison Company; Narayana 1920, dir. Léon Poirier, prod. Gaumont Série Pax; The Dream Cheater, 1920, dir. Ernest C. Warde, adapttion Jack Cunningham, prod. Robert Brunton Productions; Slave of Desire, 1923, dir. George D. Baker, starring George Walsh, Bessie Love, Carmel Myers, prod. Goldwyn Pictures Corporation; La Piel de Zapa, dir. Luis Bayón Herrera, prod. EFA; short film 1960 (9 min), dir. Vlado Kristl; TV film 1980, dir. Michel Favart, adaptation Armand Lanoux
• SARRASINE, 1831 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Sarrasine (tr. by Clara Bell and others)
• JÉSUS CHRIST EN FLANDRE, 1831 - Christ in Flanders (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• LE CHEF-D'ŒUVRE INCONNU, 1831 - The Unknown Masterpiece (tr. by Richard Howard) - Tuntematon mestariteos ja muita novelleja (suomentanut Virpi Hämeen-Anttila) - films: Mr. Frenhofer and the Minotaur, 1949 (short film), dir. Sidney Peterson; Divertimento, 1991, dir. Jacques Rivette, starring Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart, Marianne Denicourt ; La Belle noiseuse, 1991, dir. Jacques Rivette, starring Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart
• LE RÉQUISITIONNAIRE, 1831
• LES DEUX RÊVES, 1831 - The Two Brothers (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• MAÎTRE CORNÉLIUS; L'AUBERGE ROUGE, 1831 - Maitre Cornelius (tr. by Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LES PROSCRITS, 1831 - The Exiles, and Other Short Stories (tr. Clara Bell)
• MÉMOIRES DE MME. LA DUCHESSE D'ABRANTES, 1831 (vol. 1., with the duchess)
• SUR CATHERINE DE MÉDICIS, 1831-41 - About Catherine de Medici and Other Stories (tr. Clara Bell, 1898)
• LA FEMME DE TRES ANS, 1831-44 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Woman of Thirty (tr. by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell, 1899; George Burnham Ives, 2004) - Keski-ikäinen nainen (suom. 1907-1910)
• CONTES BRUNS, 1832 (with Philarète Chasles and Charles Rabou)
• LES SALMIGONDIS: CONTES DE TOUTES LES COLEURS, 1832 (as Comtesse à deux maris, in Scénes de la vie privée, 1835) - Le Colonel Chabert (in Comédie humaine, 1844)
• NOUVEAUX CONTES PHILOSPHIQUES, 1832
• LES CENT CONTES DROLATIQUES, 1832-37 - Contes Drolatiques (tr. 1874)
• LA BOURSE, 1832 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Purse (tr. Clara Bell)
• LE CURÉ DE TOURS, 1832 (Scènes de la vie de province) - The Curé of Tours (tr. by Merloyd Lawrence) - Toursin kirkkoherra (suom. Kauko Kare)
• LE COLONEL CHABERT, 1832 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Colonel Chabert (tr. by Carol Cosman) - Eversti Chabert (suomentanut Huvi Vuorinen) - films: 1911, dir. André Calmettes, Henri Pouctal 1943, dir. René Le Hénaff, adaptation by Pierre Benoît, starring Raimu; Kolonel Chabert, TV film 1961, dir. Tone Brulin, prod. N.I.R.; Oberst Chabert, TV film 1967, dir. Ludwig Cremer; 1994, dir. Yves Angelo, starring Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant
• MADAME FIRMIANI, 1832 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Madame Firmiani (tr. by Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LE MESSAGE, 1832 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Message (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• L'AUBERGE ROUGE, 1832 - The Red Inn (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley) - films: 1910, dir. Camille de Morlhon, prod. Pathé Frères; 1923, dir. Jean Epstein, starring Léon Mathot, Gina Manès, Jean-David Évremond, Pierre Hot, prod. Pathé Frères; 1951, dir. Claude Autant-Lara, starring Fernandel, Françoise Rosay, Marie-Claire Olivia, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Nane Germon
• LA FEMME ABANDONNÉE, 1832 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Deserted Woman (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LES MARANA, 1832 - The Maranas / Juana (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LOUIS LAMBERT, 1832/1833 - Louis Lambert (transl. Clara Bell, James Waring)
• LES CENT CONTES DRÔLATIQUES, 1832-37 - Droll Stories (tr. by J. Lewis May; Jacques Le Clercq; Alec Brown) - Leikillisiä tarinoita (suom. Yrjö Kivimies ja Kauko Kare)
• LE MÉDECIN DE CAMPAGNE, 1833 (Scènes de la vie de campagne; excerpt, as Histoire de Napoléon, 1833) / The Country Doctor (tr. Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell)
• LA GRENADIÈRE, 1833 - La Grenadiere (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• EUGÉNIE GRANDET, 1833 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Eugénie Grandet (tr. by Sylvia Raphael; Merloyd Lawrence) - Perijärär (suom. V. A. Koskenniemi, 1913) / Saiturin tytär (suom. V. A. Koskenniemi, 1934) / Eugénie Grandet (suom. Outi ja Kalevi Nyytäjä) - films: 1910, dir. by Emile Chautard, Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset; 1918, dir. by Roberto Roberti; The Conquering Power, 1920, dir. Rex Ingram, starring Alice Terry, Rudolph Valentino; 1947, dir. by Mario Soldati, starring Alida Valli; 1953, dir. by Emilio Gómez Muriel, starring Marga López; TV film 1956, dir. by Maurice Cazeneuve, starring Dominique Blanchar, Jean Marchat, Line Noro, Paul Guers; Evgeniya Grande, 1960, dir. by Sergei Alekseyev, starring Ariadna Shengelaya, Mikhail Kozakov, Semyon Mezhinsky, Tatyana Pankova; TV film 1965, dir. by Rex Tucker, cast: Valerie Gearon, Carl Bernard, Mary Kerridge, Beatrix Lehmann, David Sumner; TV film 1994, dir. by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, starring Alexandra London
• L'ILLUSTRE GAUDISSART, 1833 (Scènes de la vie de province) - The Illustrious Gaudissart (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LA FLEUR DE POIS, 1834 (Études de moeurs au XIXe siècle)
• LA RECHERCHE DE L'ABSOLU, 1834 (Études de moeurs au XIXe siècle) - Balthasar; or, Science and Love (tr. 1859) / The Alchemist (tr. 1861) / The Quest of the Absolute (in Human Comedy, 1895-98) / The Tragedy of a Genius (tr. 1912) / The Alkahest (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• HISTOIRE DES TREIZE, 1834/35 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - History of the Thirteen (tr. by Herbert J. Hunt, 1974); FERRAGUS, 1833 - Ferragus, Chief of the Dévorants (tr. 1896) - films: 1910, dir. André Calmettes, prod. Pathé Frères; 1920, dir. Giovanni Enrico Vidali, prod. Soc.Lydianne; 1923, dir. Gaston Ravel, prod. Films Rene Navarre; LA DUCHESSE DE LANGEAIS, 1833/1834 - The Duchess of Langeais (tr. Ellen Marriage, 1898) - films: Ne touchez pas la hache, 2007, dir. by Jacques Rivette, starring Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Bulle Ogier, Michel Piccoli; TV film 1995, dir. by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, starring Laure Duthilleul, prod. France 3 (FR 3); 1942, dir. Jacques de Baroncelli, starring Edwige Feuillère, Pierre Richard-Willm, Aimé Clariond; Liebe, 1927, dir. Paul Czinner, prod. Phoebus-Film AG; The Eternal Flame, 1922, dir. Frank Lloyd, starring Norma Talmadge, Adolphe Menjou; La Storia dei tredici, 1917, dir. Carmine Gallone; 1910, dir. André Calmettes, prod. Pathé Frères; LA FILLE AUX YEUX D'OR, 1834/1835 - Girl with the Golden Eyes (tr. by Ernest Dowson) - film: 1961, dir. Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, starring Marie Laforêt, Paul Guers, Françoise Prévost, Françoise Dorléac
• LE PÈRE GORIOT, 1834/1835 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Père Goriot (tr. by Fred M. Dey; Ellen Marriage; A.J. Krailsheimer; Henry Reed; Burton Raffel) / Old Goriot (tr. by Ellen Marriage; Marion Ayton Crawford) / Old Man Goriot (tr. Joan Charles [pseud.]), - Ukko Goriot (suom. Eino Woionmaa, 1927) - films: 1910, dir. by Armand Numès; 1915, dir. Travers Vale, prod. Biograph Company; 1921, dir. by Jacques de Baroncelli, starring Jacques Grétillat, Gabriel Signoret, Jeanne Cheirel, Claude France; Paris at Midnight, 1926, dir. by E. Mason Hopper, starring Emile Chautard, Lionel Barrymore, Jetta Goudal, Mary Brian, Edmund Burns; 1945, dir. by Robert Vernay, starring Pierre Larquey, Pierre Renoir, Georges Rollin, Claude Génia, Lise Delamare; TV film 1972, dir. Guy Jorré, cast: Charles Vanel, Bruno Garcin, Roger Jacquet; TV film 2004, dir. by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghen, starring Charles Aznavour, Florence Darel, Rosemarie La Vaullée, Malik Zidi, Tchéky Karyo
• LE CONTRAT DE MARIAGE, 1835 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Marriage Contract (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• UNE DRAME AU BORD DE LA MER, 1834 (Études philosophiques) - A Drama on the Seashore (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• SÉRAPHITA, 1835 - Seraphita (tr. by Clara Bell and R. S. Scott; Katherine Prescott Wormeley)
• LE LIVRE MYSTIQUE, 1835 (includes Louis Lambert and Séraphita) - Louis Lambert and Seraphita (2 vols., 1889)
• LES LYS DANS LA VALLÉE, 1836 (Scènes de la vie de campagne) - Lily of the Valley (tr. by Lucienne Hill) - Laakson lilja (suom. Reino Hakamies)
• MELMOTH RÉCONCILIÉ, 1836 (Études philosophiques) - Melmoth Reconciled (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• L'INTERDICTION, 1836 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Commission in Lunacy (tr. C. Bell)
• LA MESSE DE L'ATHÉE, 1836 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Atheist's Mass and Other Stories (tr. C. Bell)
• FACINO CANE, 1836 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Facino Cane (tr. Clara Bell)
• L'EXCOMMUNIÉE, 1837 (with Auguste de Belloy, in Oeuvres complètes de Horace de Saint-Aubin)
• L'ENFANT MAUDIT, 1837 (Études philosophiques) - The Hated Son (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LA VIEILLE FILLE, 1837 (Scènes de la vie de province) - The Old Maid (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LES EMPLOYÉS, 1837 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - The Bureaucrats (tr. by Charles Foulkes)
• GAMBARA, 1837 - Gambara (tr. by Richard Howard)
• LA MESSE DE L'ATHLÉE, 1837 (Études philosophiques)
• LES MARTYRS IGNORÉS, 1837 (Études philosophiques)
• LEM SECRET DES RUGGIERI, 1837 (Études philosophiques)
• L'ENFANT MAUDIT, 1837 (Études philosophiques)
• UNE PASSION DANS LE DÉSERT, 1837 (Études philosophiques)
• LES ILLUSIONS PERDUES, 1837 (part 1: Les deux poètes)
• LES ILLUSIONS PERDUES, 1837-43 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Lost Illusions (tr. by Kathleen Raine) - Kadonneet illuusiot (suom. Heikki Kaskimies)
• LES DEUX POETES, 1837 (Illusions perdues) - Two Poets (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• HISTOIRE DE LA GRANDEUR ET DE LA DÉCADENCE DE CÉSAR BIROTTEAU, 1837 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - History of the Grandeur and Downfall of Cesar Birotteau (tr. 1860) / César Birotteau (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley, 1886; Frances Frenaye) / The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau (tr. by Ellen Marriage, 1896) / The Bankrupt (tr. 1959) - César Birotteau: hajuvesikauppiaan suuruuden ja tuhoutumisen tarina (suom. Valpuri Alopaeus, 1979) / Kunniallisen miehen tarina (suomentanut Valpuri Alopaeus, 1946) - films: César Birotteau, 1911, dir. Emile Chautard, Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, prod. Société Française des Films Éclair; Cesare Birotteau, 1921, dir. Arnaldo Fratelli, prod. Tespi Film; TV film The Rise and Rise of Cesar Birotteau, 1965, dir. Michael Barry, starring Morris Perry, prod. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• LA MAISON NUCINGEN, 1838 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - The Firm of Nucingen (tr. James Waring)
• MAXIMES ET PENSÉES DE NAPOLÉON, 1838
• LE CURÉ DE VILLAGE, 1838/1839 (Scènes de la vie de campagne) - The Village Rector / The Country Parson (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• LE FEMME SUPÉRIEURE, LA MAISON NUCINGEN, LA TORPILLE, 1838
• LES RIVALITÉS EN PROVINCE, 1838 (as Le Cabinet des Antiques, 1839) - The Jealousies of a Country Town (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• LE CABINET DES ANTIQUES, 1839 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Cabinet of Antiquities (tr. William Walton) / The Collection of Antiquities(tr. Ellen Marriage)
• GAMBARA; ADIEU, 1939 - Gambara (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• UNE FILLE D'EVE, 1839 (includes Massimilla Doni) - A Daughter of Eve and Massimilla Doni (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• BEATRIX; OU, LES AMOURS FORCÉES, 1839 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Beatrix (tr. by Beth Archer)
• LES SECRETS DE LA PRINCESSE DE CADIGNAN, 1839 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan (tr. Prescott Wormeley)
• MASSIMILIA DONI, 1839 - Massimilia Doni (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• UN GRAND HOMME DE PROVINCE À PARIS, 1839 (Illusions perdues) - A Great Man of the Provinces in Paris (tr. 1893) / A Distinguished Provincial at Paris (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• SPLENDEURS ET LES MISÈRES DES COURTISANES, 1839-47 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - A Harlot High and Low (tr. by Rayner Heppenstall) - Kurtisaanien loisto ja kurjuus (suom. Heikki Kaskimies ja Mikko Manninen)
• VAUTRIN, 1840 (drama)
• PIERRETTE, 1840 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Pierrette (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• PIERRE GRASSOU, 1840 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Pierre Grassou (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• Z. MARCAS, 1840 (Scènes de la vie politique) - Z. Marcas (tr. Clara Bell)
• PHYSIOLOGIE DE L'EMPLOYÉ, 1841
• UN PRINCE DE LA BOHÊME, 1840 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - A Prince of Bohemia (tr. Clara Bell)
• PHYSIOLOGIE DU RENTIER DE PARIS ET DE PROVINCE, 1841 (with Arnould Frémy)
• URSULE MIROUËT, 1841 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Ursule Mirouet (tr. by Donald Adamson) - Ursula (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• UNE TÉNÉBREUSE AFFAIRE, 1841 (Scènes de la vie politique) - The Gondreville Mystery (tr. 1898) / A Shady Business / Murky Business (tr. by Herbert J. Hunt, 1972)
• LA FAUSSE MAÎTRESSE, 1841 (Scènes de la vie privée) - The Imaginary Mistress (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LA RABOUILLEUSE, 1841/42 (Scènes de la vie de province) - Black Sheep (tr. by Donald Adamson) - films: 1944, dir. Fernand Rivers, starring Fernand Gravey, Suzy Prim, André Brunot, Jacques Erwin; Les Arrivistes, 1960, dir. Louis Daquin, adaptation Louis Daquin, Klaus Wischnewski, prod. Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma
• MÉMOIRES DE DEUX JEUNES MARIÉES, 1841/1842 - Memoirs of Two Young Married Women (tr. 1894) / Letters of Two Brides (tr. by R. S. Scott) - Kahden nuoren aviovaimon muistelmat (suom. L. Onerva)
• OEUVRES COMPLÈTES: LA COMÉDIE HUMAINE, 1842-53 (20 vols.)
• LES RESSOURCES DE QUINOLA, 1842 (romantic drama) - The Resources of Quinola (tr. in Works, 1901)
• L'ENVERS DE L'HISTOIRE CONTEMPORAINE, 1842-46 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - The Wrong Side of Paris (tr. by Jordan Stump)
• ALBERT SAVARUS, 1842 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Albert Savarus (trans.)
• LES DEUX FRÈRES, 1842 (as Un Ménage de garçon en province, in Comédie humaine, 1843, as La Rabouilleuse, in Oeuvres complèles, 1912) - Two Brothers (tr. 1887) / A Bachelor's Establishment (in Human Comedy, 1895-98) / The Black Sheep (tr. 1970)
• AUTRE ÉTUDE DE FEMME, 1842 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Another Study of a Woman (tr. Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell)
• PAMÉLA GIRAUD, 1843 (drama) - Pamela Giraud (tr. in Works, 1901)
• LA MUSE DU DÉPARTEMENT, 1843 (Scènes de la vie de province) - The Muse of the Department (tr. by George Burnham Ives; William Walton)
• DAVID SECHARD / EVE ET DAVID, 1843 (Illusions perdues) - Eve and David (tr. Ellen Marriage)
• HONORINE, 1843 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Honorine (tr. Clara Bell)
• MODESTE MIGNON, 1844 (Scènes de la vie privée) - Modeste Mignon (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• GAUDISSART II, 1844 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Gaudissart II (tr. Clara Bell)
• LES PAYSANS, 1844 (Scènes de la vie de campagne) - The Peasants (tr. by Ellen Marriage) / Sons of the Soil (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley) EXPLIQUÉE: LE MARTYR CALVINISTE, 1845 - Catherine de' Medici (tr. 1894)
• UN DÉBUT DANS LA VIE, 1844 (includes La fausse maîtresse) - A Start in Life (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• UN HOMME D'AFFAIRES, 1845 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - A Man of Business (tr. by Clara Bell and others)
• CATHERINE DE MÉDICIS
• HONORINE, 1845 (includes Un Prince de la Bohème)
• SPLENDEURS ER MISÈRES DES COURTISANES: ESTHER, 1845 - A Harlot's Progress (in Human Comedy, 1895-98) / A Harlot High and Low (tr. 1970)
• LA LUNE DE MIEL, 1845
• PETITES MISÈRES DE LA VIE CONJUGALE, 1845-46 - The Petty Annoyances of Married Life (tr. 1861)
• LES COMÉDIENS SANS LE SAVOIR, 1846 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Unconscious Comedians (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LA COUSINE BETTE, 1846 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Cousin Bette (tr. by Katharine Prescott Wormeley; Kathleen Raine; Anthony Bonner; Marion Ayton Crawford; James Waring; Sylvia Raphael ) - Bette-serkku (suom. Marketta Tuulos) - films: 1927, dir. by Max de Rieux; TV film 1964, dir. by Yves-André Hubert, starring Alice Sapritch; 1998, dir. by Des McAnuff, starring Jessica Lange, Geraldine Chaplin, Bob Hoskins, Elisabeth Shue
• LE COUSIN PONS, 1847 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne) - Cousin Pons (tr. by Ellen Marriage; Herbert J. Hunt) - Pons-serkku (suom. Maija Lehtonen) - films: 1924, dir. by Jacques Robert; Honor of the Family, 1931, dir. Lloyd Bacon, prod. First National Pictures; Bratranec Pons, 1973, dir. by Otakar Kosek, prod. Ceskoslovenská Televize; TV film 1976, dir. by Guy Jorré, starring Henri Virlojeux
• UN DRAME DANS LES PRISONS, 1847
• LE PROVINCIAL À PARIS, 1847 (includes Gillette, Le Rentier, El Verdugo)
• LES PARENTS PAUVRES, 1847-48 (includes Le Cousine Bette and Le Cousin Pons) - Poor Relations (tr. 1880)
• LE DERNIÈRE INCARNATION DE VAUTRIN, 1848
• LA MARÂTRE, 1848 (play) - The Stepmother (tr. Edith Saunders)
• MERCADET, OU LE FAISEUR, 1851 (drama, prod. 1849) - Mercadet (tr. in Works, 1901)
• LE DÉPUTÉ D'ARCIS, 1854 (Scènes de la vie politique, complered by Charles Rabou) - The Deputy of Arcis (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• LES PAYSANS, 1855 (completed by Mme. Balzac) - Sons of the Soil (tr. 1890) / The Peasantry (in Human Comedy, 1895-98)
• LES PETITS BOURGEOIS, 1856 (Scènes de la vie Parisienne, completed by Charles Rabou) - The Lesser Bourgeoisie (tr. 1896) / The Middle Classes (tr. Katharine Prescott Wormeley)
• TRAITÉ DE LA VIE ÉLÉGANTE, 1858
• LETTRES À ÉTRANGÈRE 1833-44, 1899-1906
• The Human Comedy, 1895-98 (40 vols., ed. by George Saintsbury)
• Works, 1901
• L'ÉCOLE DES MÉNAGES, 1907 (ed. by le Vicomte de Lovenjoul, prod. 1910)
• ŒUVRES COMPLÈTES, 1912-40 (40 vols., ed. by Marcel Bouteron and Henri Longnon)
• CAHIERS BALZACIENS, 1927-28 (8 vols., ed. by Marcel Bouteron)
• LE CATÉCHISME SOCIAL, 1933 (ed. by Bernard Guyon)
• The Human Comedy, 1929 (36 vols., 4th ed., ed. George Saintsbury)
• Letters to His Family, 1809-50, 1934 (ed. by W. S. Hastings)
• STÉNIE; OU, LES ERREURS PHILOSOPHIQUES, 1936 (ed. by A. Prioult)
• CORRESPONDANCE AVEC MME ZULMA CARRAUD 1829-1850, 1935
• TRAITÉ DE LA PRIÈRE, 1942 (ed. by Philippe Bertault)
• JOURNAUX À LA MER, 1949 (ed. by Louis Jaffard)
• LA FEMME AUTEUR EY AUTRES FRAGMENTS INÉDITS, 1950 (ed. by le Vicomte de Lovenjoul)
• MADEMOISELLE DU VISSARD, 1950 (ed. by Pierre-George Castex)
• LA COMÉDIE HUMAINE, 1951-58 (11 vols., ed. by M. Bouteron, rev. ed., by Pierre-George Castex and Pierre Citron, 1976-)
• LA COMÉDIE HUMAINE, 1965 (7 vols.)
• LETTRES À MME HANSKA, 1967
• CORRESPONDANCE, 1960-68 (5vols.)
• THÉÂTRE, 1969
• LA COMÉDIE HUMAINE, 1971 -