The ‘Etudes de moeurs’ were systematically divided by their author into ‘Scenes of Private Life,’ ‘Scenes of Provincial Life,’ ’Scenes of Country Life,’ ‘Scenes of Parisian Life,’ ‘Scenes of Political Life,’ and ’Scenes of Military Life,’—­the last three divisions representing more or less exceptional phases of existence.  The group relating to Paris is by far the most important and powerful, but the provincial stories show almost as fine workmanship, and furnish not a few of the well-known masterpieces.  Less interesting, though still important, are the ‘Scenes of Private Life,’ which consist of twenty-four novels, novelettes, and tales, under the following titles:  ‘Beatrix,’ ’Albert Savarus,’ ‘La Fausse maitresse’ (The False Mistress), ‘Le Message’ (The Message), ‘La Grande Breteche,’ ‘Etude de femme’ (Study of Woman), ‘Autre etude de femme’ (Another Story of Woman), ‘Madame Firmiani,’ ‘Modeste Mignon,’ ‘Un Debut dans la vie’ (An Entrance upon Life), ‘Pierre Grassou,’ ‘Memoires de deux jeunes mariees’ (Recollections of a Young Couple), ‘La Maison du chat-qui-pelote,’ ‘Le Bal de Sceaux’ (The Ball of Sceaux), ‘Le Contrat de mariage’ (The Marriage Contract), ’La Vendetta,’ ‘La Paix du menage’ (Household Peace), ‘Une Double famille’ (A Double Family), ‘Une Fille d’Eve’ (A Daughter of Eve), ‘Honorine,’ ‘La Femme abandonnee’ (The Abandoned Wife), ‘La Grenadiere,’ ’La Femme de trente ans’ (The Woman of Thirty).

Of all these stories, hardly one shows genuine greatness except the powerful tragic tale ‘La Grande Breteche,’ which was subsequently incorporated in ‘Autre etude de femme,’ This story of a jealous husband’s walling up his wife’s lover in a closet of her chamber is as dramatic a piece of writing as Balzac ever did, and is almost if not quite as perfect a short story as any that has since been written in France.  ‘La Maison du chat-qui-pelote’ has been mentioned already on account of its importance in the evolution of Balzac’s realism, but while a delightful novelette, it is hardly great, its charm coming rather from its descriptions of bourgeois life than from the working out of its central theme, the infelicity of a young wife married to an unfaithful artist.  ‘Modeste Mignon’ is interesting, and more romantic than Balzac’s later works were wont to be; but while it may be safely recommended to the average novel-reader, few admirers of its author would wish to have it taken as a sample of their master.  ‘Beatrix’ is a powerful story in its delineation of the weakness of the young Breton nobleman, Calyste du Guenie.  It derives a factitious interest from the fact that George Sand is depicted in ‘Camille Maupin,’ the nom de plume of Mlle. des Touches, and perhaps Balzac himself in Claude Vignon, the critic.  Less factitious is the interest derived from Balzac’s admirable delineation of a doting mother and aunt, and from his realistic handling of one of the cleverest of his ladies of light reputation, Madame Schontz; his studies of such characters