Oeuvres complètes - La comédie humaine

First printing of the works by Houssiaux, who had purchased the stock from the Furne bookshop, where the works were originally published; he completed them with three new volumes (Theatre, Contes drolatiques...) which appear for the first time in the collected works in 1855. The edition will be entirely reprinted in 1855. All volumes dated 1853, except the last 3 volumes of course, in 1855.
Contemporary dark green half-shagreen bindings, spine with five raised bands in Jansenist style. Author, title and volume number in gilt. Scattered foxing.
In volume 5: leaf (138 to 143) detached with loss to upper margin. Upper joint of volume 18 cracked for 5cm. Volumes 9, 15 and 18, fragments of head caps missing. Rubbing. 8 corners slightly bumped.
Work illustrated with 138 plates hors-texte by the best artists of the period including Bertall, Daumier, Gavarni, Johannot, Nanteuil as well as rare in-text illustrations and some music plates.
As always with these complete works editions, ours presents, "naturally" some notable particularities, detailed as follows:
Volume I: 7 figures including the portrait of Balzac; Volume II: 7 figures; Volume III: 8 figures; Volume IV: 7 figures; Volume V: 8 figures; Volume VI: 8 figures; Volume VII: 8 figures; Volume VIII: 8 figures; Volume IX: 7 figures. Volume X: 8 figures; Volume XI: 8 figures; Volume XII: 6 figures; Volume XIII: 6 figures; Volume XIV: 6 figures; Volume XV: 6 figures; Volume XVI: 5 figures; Volume XVII: 5 figures.
The work was originally to comprise only 17 volumes, but the publisher Houssiaux, following the previous publishers, completed them with three final volumes in 1855: Volume XVIII: 16 figures. Volume XIX: 4 figures; Volume XX: 5 figures.