Honoré de Balzac was born at Tours on May 20, 1799, the son of a barrister, whose principal passion seems to have been for a longevity that would let him reap the benefit of a tontine.

Summarised chronology.

Balzac used to tell a story of his father, who, when asked to carve a partridge, not knowing how to set about it, rolled up his sleeves, gripped his knife and fork, and cut it in four with such energy as to cleave the plate at the same time and embed the knife in the table.

Introductory essay.

Towards the end of the year 1612, on a cold December morning, a young man in very threadbare garments was walking up and down before the door of a house in the Rue des Grands-Augustins in Paris.

The unknown masterpiece.