Louis Lambert suivi de Séraphîta

First definitive editions, partly original.
Bound in red half-shagreen with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind-stamped panels and fillets, the entwined monogram of Jules Hetzel at the foot, uncut copy, contemporary binding.
A few occasional spots of foxing.
Inscribed by the author to Jules Hetzel, “as a token of the author’s friendship.”

In the 1840s, Balzac “contributed to a collective volume illustrated with Grandville’s vignettes, Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, issued in parts by a new publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel (1814–1886), who was to become a friend and play a crucial role in the consortium of publishers of La Comédie humaine. [Balzac] also assisted Hetzel in drafting texts signed ‘P.-J. Stahl,’ the publisher’s pseudonym.” (Roger Pierrot, Honoré de Balzac, Paris, Fayard, 1994)

An outstanding copy, inscribed by Balzac, in a charming contemporary binding.