LETTERS TO MADAME HANSKA BORN COUNTESS RZEWUSKA AFTERWARDS MADAME HONORÉ DE BALZAC 1833-1846 By HONORÉ DE BALZAC TRANSLATED BY KATHARINE PRESCOTT WORMELEY HARDY, PRATT AND COMPANY 3 SOMERSET STREET BOSTON 1900 CONTENTS. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE LETTERS: I. LETTERS DURING 1833 II. LETTERS DURING 1834 III. LETTERS DURING 1835 IV. LETTERS DURING 1836 V. LETTERS DURING 1837 VI. LETTERS DURING 1838 VII. LETTERS DURING 1839, 1840, 1841 VIII. LETTERS DURING 1843, 1844, 1845 IX. LETTERS DURING 1846 APPENDIX TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. In 1876 M. Calmann Lévy published Balzac's Correspondence in the twenty-fourth volume of the Édition Définitive of his works. These letters are prefaced by a short memoir written by his sister Laure, Madame Surville, which she had already published in 1856, six years after her brother's death, under the title of "Balzac, sa vie et ses écrits, d'après sa correspondance." In this Correspondence given in the Édition Définitive, the first letter addressed by Balzac to Madame Hanska is dated August 11, 1835, and to it is appended the following foot-note:-- "At this period Balzac was, and had been for some time, in correspondence with the distinguished woman to whom he was later to give his name; but, unfortunately, a part of this correspondence was burned in Moscow in a fire which occurred at Madame Hanska's residence. It must, therefore, be remarked that in the letters of this series two or three gaps occur, all the more regrettable because those which escaped the fire present a keen interest." (Éd. Déf., vol. xxiv., p. 217.) * * * * * The present publication of Letters (of which this volume is a translation) bears upon its title-page the words: "H. de Balzac. Œuvres Posthumes. Lettres à l'Étrangère. 1833-1842." No explanation is given of how these letters were obtained, and no proof or assurance is offered of their authenticity. A foot-note appended to the first letter merely states as follows:--