Le Lys dans la Vallée; Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar Birotteau; Honorine; La Peau de Chagrin; Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale

Paris: Michel Levy Freres; Librairie Nouvelle , 1857-63. Leather. Good Only. 6.5" by 4" . None . Ten novels in five volumes from the complete works of Honore de Balzac, uniform bindings in the original French. Ten novels in five volumes by Honoré de Balzac in uniform bindings, from the 'Complete Works' series. Balzac was a French novelist and playwright, regarded by many as the founder of realism in European literature. La Comédie Humaine presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, and is generally viewed as his magnum opus; the series often reflects his real life difficulties and includes his own experiences.The present collection is comprised of the following titles: Le Lys dans la Vallée, 1862 with L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine, 1864; Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar Birotteau 1863 with Histoire des Treize, 1862; Honorine, 1863 with La Maison Nucingen, c1863; La Peau de Chagrin, 1857 with Les Marana, 1858; Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale, 1865 with Physiologie de Mariage, 1866. In uniform half calf bindings with gilt tooling to the spine, marbled boards and endpapers. Externally generally sound with shelf wear, the boards and spine rubbed and slightly chopped. Rubbing and scuffing to the joints, which are cracked to 'Honorine' to the front and rear and 'Le Lys dans la Vallee' to the front, holding firm. Page 95-6 of 'La Maison Nucingen' loose but present. The volumes generally firmly bound. The pages are very clean throughout with only light minor spotting to the odd leaf. Good Only