s a great
success. During his lifetime Balzac's plays received little applause
--in fact, were generally greeted with obloquy; but when it was too
late for praise or blame to matter, his apotheosis as a dramatist took
place; and on this occasion his bust was brought to the stage, and
crowned amid general enthusiasm.

The year 1842 is important in the annals of Balzac's life, as on April
23rd his novels were for the first time collected together to form the
"Comedie Humaine," his great title to fame. The preface to this ranks
among the celebrated prefaces of the world, and it was written at the
suggestion of his friend Hetzel, who objected strongly to the prefaces
signed Felix David, which had been placed in 1835 at the beginning of
the "Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme Siecle," and of the "Etudes
Philosophiques." In an amusing letter Hetzel tells Balzac that a
preface should be simple, natural, rather modest, and always
good-humoured. "Sum up--sum up as modestly as possible. There is the
true pride, when any one has done what you have. Relate what you want
to say quite calmly. Imagine yourself old, disengaged from everything
even from yourself. Speak like one of your own heroes, and you will
make something useful, indispensable.

"Set to work, my fat father; allow a thin publisher to speak thus to
Your Fatness. You know that it is with good intentions."[*]

[*] "Trois Lettres," in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte
de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.

We may be grateful to Hetzel for this advice, which Balzac evidently
followed; as the preface is written in a quiet and modest tone unusual
with him, and he follows Hetzel's counsel, and gives a concise summary
of his intention in writing the "Comedie Humaine."

He explains that he has attempted in his great work to classify man,
as Buffon has classified animals, and to show that his varieties of
character, like the differences of form in the lower creation, come
from environment. The three great divisions of the Comedie Humaine are
"Etudes de Moeurs," "Etudes Philosophiques," and "Etudes Analytiques";
and the "Etudes de Moeurs" comprise many subdivisions, each of which,
in Balzac's mind, is connected with some special period of life.

The "Scenes de la Vie Privee," of which the best-known novels are "Le
Pere Goriot" (1834), "La Messe de l'Athee" (1836), "La Grenadiere"
(1832), "Albert Savarus" (1842), "Etude de Femme" (1830), "Beatrix"
(1838), and "Modeste Mignon"