Oeuvres complètes de H. de Balzac

New printing of the author's works issued by Alexandre Houssiaux, who had acquired the Furne publishing stock under which the works had originally appeared. He expanded the set with three additional volumes (Theatre, Contes drolatiques, etc.), published here for the first time.
Bound in red half shagreen, spines with four raised bands ruled in gilt and richly gilt-panelled, a few minor scuffs to some spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges.

A few light foxing spots, as usual.

Illustrated with 125 plates hors texte by the leading artists of the period, including Bertall, Daumier, Gavarni, Johannot, Meissonier and Nanteuil, together with rare illustrations in the text and several engraved music plates.
As is often the case with collected editions of this kind, our set displays several noteworthy bibliographical peculiarities, detailed as follows:
Volume I: 6 plates, including the frontispiece portrait of Honoré de Balzac; Volume II: 7 plates; Volume III: 6 plates; Volume IV: 6 plates; Volume V: 8 plates; Volume VI: 8 plates; Volume VII: 8 plates; Volume VIII: 8 plates; Volume IX: 7 plates. Volume X: 8 plates; Volume XI: 8 plates, one detached; Volume XII: 6 plates; Volume XIII: 6 plates; Volume XIV: 8 plates; Volume XV: 6 plates; Volume XVI: 4 plates; Volume XVII: 4 plates.
The work was originally intended to comprise only 17 volumes, but Houssiaux, following the example of the previous publishers, completed the series with three final volumes, which appear here for the first time: Volume XVIII: 16 plates. Volume XIX: 4 plates; Volume XX: 4 plates.