New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-03-03


octave PIP. xix. 49, Boston: Hardy. Pratt & Co
The reader of a famous authors correspond
ence seldom feels any sense OF responsibility
toward the dead man; he leaves that to the edi-
tor. In the of the letters which BalZac
wrote to Nine. Hanska. however, il is important
that any having serious interest in the
great novelist should approach them with wary
Judgment that he should be his guard
against certain elements inimical TO Balzacs fair
fame, which have been foisted into them in the
original French edition Miss Wormeley's trans
lation supports the reader in such attitude
putting into his hands the whereby he
may justify it. Her volume gives. indeed. not
only a translation Of the 'Lettres rEtran-
gere." which VI. SpOelberch de Louvenjoul pub
lshed short time ago. but. through the agency
of an analytical preface and various careful
notes. throws searching light upon the text and
indicates wherein the latter is trustworthy.
wherein it appears TO be spurious or garbled.
The necessity for her assumption of this pecul-
lar responsibility, and for the readers participa
ton in her soIicitude for Balzac's reputation.
springs from the following facts: This is not a
miscellaneous collection of letters be read for
odds and ends of Balzacs outpouT;ngs. intellect
ual or personal It is the memorial Of single
episode in his life. and that an important one.
II must be read. above all. for the purpose of
ascertaining the exact nature of Razacs rela-
tions, from first last. with the lady he uti-
mately married. Ordinarily il would be imper-
tinent to show curiosity such a point. But
NJ de Louvenjoul has forced the issue TO the
front. In TN Roman d'Amour'' published in
1896, he professed tell the story of the court
snip. He told il in a manner ambiguous. to say
the least, presenting conjectures and insinua-
tions which exhibited the hitherto honorable
pute of Balzac in sorry plight. The docu-
ments he advanced proofs We're not convinc-
ing their internal evidence being against
their claim 10 authenticity. No satisfactory in
formation offered to their origin. In the
'Lettres a TEtrangere' the Vicomte gave some
indubitably genuine letters OF Balzacs, but
again his text fell under suspicion The student
of Balzac's style detected at whole letters
unworthy of him. and passages in genuine let
tiers which appeared TO be interpretations by
some malicious hand. The student Of Bazacs
character and career felt in the moment
that while the romance commemorated in the
volume in essentials true. certain aspects of
fl could never have had any foundation in fact.
These aspects left Balzac dishonored and con-
temptfble in a situation incompatible with all
that is known Of his rectitude and greatness.
Miss Wormeley's object has been 10 expose that
situation not only Incompatible with Balzacs
true character. but existent only in the inagi-
nation of the estimable NJ. Spoeiberch de Louven-
joul, of those whom it is charitable to sup
pose may have hoodwinked him into accepting
garbled and forged manuscripts along with
others Of unmpeachable authenticity.
AT the time this correspondence was begun
Balzac in the early thirties. and had added
la Peau de Chagrin' to list OF works already
imposing The initiative from Nine.
Hanska, lady four five years younger than
the novelist She was living happily with her
husband in the Ukraine, surrounded by lux
uries, and, presumably. with many idle hours
at her disposal. Miss Wormeley, appraising
her on the basis of Balzac's letters, takes her
"a woman of principle, dignity intelligence and
good breeding, with strong sense of duty. and
e certain deliberateness of nature We NAV
add TO these traits intellectual curiosity and
feminine impulse toward romantic adventure
fostered doubt by the well known repressive
conditions OF Slavic domestic life. She wrote to
Balzae, her letter being signed "L'Etrangere'
How she arranged to preserve the secret Of her
identity and yet enable Balzac to reply we do
not know De Louvenioul provides a specious
explanation. seeking TO prove that the CORE
spondence facilitated by cryptic communi-
cations in the public press. Unfortunately. the
Vicomte brings in this expedient year before
the reception Of Nine. Hanska's first letter, a
fact in itself destructive Of his hypothesis even
If il conceivable that Balzac could have de-
scended to this pedding kind Of intrigue. The
correspondence once begun. however, its tenor
ska (whose letters have not been preserved)
must have written with some enthusiasm for
in his letters TO her BalZac adopts fervid tone.
Perhaps it is unfair to say that he adopts 1t.
He writes rather with artlessness and spon-
taniety, In a wholly natural manner. Appar-
emily his unknown admirer had struck a note Of
sympathy unusual in the experience of the hard
worked man Of genius. He bowers "LEtran-
gere' with qualities which very possibly she
hpr &c talya
captive by the situation. Admitted to the init
macy of a writer whose name is beginning to
resound throughout Europe. she is fattered,
and in all sincerity. plays IN" to the key he
employs in his letters. After a while they
meet. Balzac, evidently, is disillusioned,
nor is there any reason why he should be, and
Nine. Hanska's husband shares her feeling Of
affection for the great man who has entered
their life once the lady and her friend talk of
love letters He promises, in fun, to show her
what they like. He writes two. Nine
Hanska is offended. So also IS her husband
The writer apologies in manly fashion and the
breach Is healed. Husband and wife remain
his friends, and their intercourse is continued
in the correspondence OF which this volume
contains Balzac's part. Eight years after NJ
Hanska's death "a period Of time significant OF
his widows freedom from any unseemly desire
10 fling herself into alliance with Balzac)
the parties TO that first impersonal encounter
La Peau de Chagrin'' married in
Russia. The marriage took place in March
1850. They returned TO Paris in May In the
middle of the following August Balzac was
dead
All Of this squares easily with a conception
OF the affair crcditable to both Balzac and Nine
Hanska. But the correspondence must be TESTED
on two counts. First it is necessary to reckon