Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com
and Emma Dudding, emma_302@hotmail.com
"Work crowned by the French Academy" is a significant line borne bythe title-page of the original edition of Messieurs Cerfberr andChristophe's monumental work. The motto indicates the high esteem inwhich the French authorities hold this very necessary adjunct to thegreat Balzacian structure. And even without this word of approval, theintelligent reader needs but a glance within the pages of the/Repertory of the Comedie Humaine/ to convince him at once of itsutility.
In brief, the purpose of the /Repertory/ is to give in alphabeticalsequence the names of all the characters forming this Balzaciansociety, together with the salient points in their lives. It is, ofcourse, well known that Balzac made his characters appear again andagain, thus creating out of his distinct novels a miniature world. Tocite a case in point, Rastignac, who comes as near being the hero ofthe /Comedie/ as any other single character, makes his firstappearance in /Father Goriot/, as a student of law; then appearing anddisappearing fitfully in a score of principal novels, he is finallymade a minister and peer of France. Without the aid of the /Repertory/it would be difficult for any save a reader of the entire /Comedie/ totrace out his career. But here it is arranged in temporal sequence,thus giving us a concrete view of the man and his relation to thissociety.
In reading any separate story, when reference is made in passing to acharacter, the reader will find it helpful and interesting to turn tothe /Repertory/ and find what manner of man it is that is underadvisement. A little systematic reading of this nature will speedilyrender the reader a "confirmed Balzacian."
A slight confusion may arise in the use of the /Repertory/ on accountof the subdivision of titles. This is the fault neither of MessieursCerfberr and Christophe nor of the translator, but of Balzac himself,who was continually changing titles, dividing and subdividing stories,and revamping and working other changes in his books. /Cousin Betty/and /Cousin Pons/ were placed together by him under the general titleof /Poor Relations/. Being separate stories, we have retained theseparate titles. Similarly, the three divisions of /Lost Illusions/were never published together until 1843—in the first completeedition of the /Comedie/; before assuming final shape its parts hadreceived several different titles. In the present text the editor hasdeemed it best to retain two of the parts under /Lost Illusions/,while the third, which presents a separate Rubempre episode, is givenas /A Distinguished Provincial at Paris/. The three parts of /TheThirteen/—/Ferragus/, /The Duchess of Langeais/, and /The Girl withthe Golden Eyes/—are given under the general title. The fourth partof /Scenes from a Courtesan's Life/, /Vautrin's Last Avatar/, whichuntil the Edition Definitive had been published separately, is heremerged into its final place. But the three parts of /The Celibates/—/Pierrette/, /The Vicar of Tours/ and /A Bachelor's Establishment/,being detached, are given separately. Other minor instances occur, butshould be readily cleared up by reference to the Indices, also to theGeneral Introduction given elsewhere.
In the preparation of this English text, great care has been exercisedto gain accuracy—a quality not found in other versions now extant. Inone or two instances, errors have been discovered in the originalFrench, notably in dates—probably typographical errors—which havebeen corrected by