11 Volumes Honoré de Balzac, Caxton Edition, 1899

A fine set of novels by Honoré de Balzac in original paper dust covers, published on the centenary of Balzac’s birth by the Caxton Publishing Company. They are beautifully illustrated throughout with engraved frontispieces and many other plates. The translation is by G. B. Ives and others.

The pages are uncut, except for the tops which are trimmed and gilded. The green cloth bindings with gilt detailing are in excellent condition. Apart from minor discolouration to the exposed edges of the paper, the pages are clean, tightly bound and in very good condition.

Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. His characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, and Henry James, filmmaker François Truffaut, and philosophers such as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

The set includes: The Village Curé The Poor Relations, volumes I, II and III The Marriage Contract The Lily of the Valley History of the Thirteen The Magic Skin The Unknown Masterpiece The House of the Cat and Racket The Country Doctor