New-York tribune., 1902-08-08
RELICS OF BALZAC.
81 DE LOvENJOUL HAS BEQUEATHED
HIS COLLECTION TO THE
FRENCH ACADEMY.
From The London Times.


The announcement has been made by the
Vicomte de Spoelberch de LovenjCui that he mas
beQueathed his collection of Balzac manuscr pls
and relics the French Academy ior tle
Chateau de Chantily 1t viii probably pe news
TO English lovers of Balzac that the prlnclpal
manuscripts and relics of the novelist are To- 70 oe
found not at Tours. Passy, Sevres. ne
d Away. or Neufchatel-at none OF the places
where Balzac spent most of his ilfe-nut a.
Brussels. where he never lived Inc lcohlte
de Lovenjouls Balzac collection is at ms resi-
dence in the Boulevard du Regent lheTe lS
nothing lacking to make Il cohl'ete, iTj
of private letters. discovered since tne Pu"il
cation of the correspondence, skeletons OF
novels recently come light, manuscripts OF lile
principal works in the "Comedle humane
farias diaries and nortions of a journal in which
Balzac totted down stray thoughts from time 10
time ,.. 30 tho
whole collection is the first page Oh lie
Goriot" containing BalZac's first draft OF lne
plot of the novel 1t reveais I'f pa1Ie"'s fife
which money matters played IN baiZdt ~ ~,
The author of La Comedie Humane oI'eis s
stopped work a novel to jot down the liS1 ~, %
his debts and balance his monthly puueet; m
first mage of lie Pere Goriot" is covered Win
notes of the kind: detail IN parucuila[ , is
yortby of note: ..Jeweller 1000 francs. one
thousand francs 10 the jeweller! ana yet hdIHtC
was not in the abt of offering cosby jews
10 his lady friends. He was more apt 10 sNe
tban1 locks of his hair made up into necklaces
or bracelets. NJ. de Lovenjoul mas q ilechiaC ~ 80 20
this description in his collection, Whlcn was oios
the property of the lady WhoIn 1dlZaG "a of
The better half of his life. Cther opJeCls ot
interest in the collection are the coats OF arms
r-bjch Ralzac had designed for his heroes IN
"a Coincide Humane Their ancestry WAS
carefully drawn up ana theI - 80 49,, nart
chosen with every possible regard LOT tile pc Pc
they were to play. For those or ms heroes VIZ
were of aristocratic birth he ordered arlhoIlai ari
hearings suitable to their rank ana lhtrusIeu
the work of designing them to Ferdlnan9 ue
Cramont a connoisseur in such matters 1ieS
were composed with the utmost care as, a, ioI ~
stance: 'Rubempre, porte de gueule au taui Ia ~
furieux d'argent dams un pre- dc Slhople- AAe
motto "Quid me cOntinebit
gre
Ralzac Few of them are really lkenesses, put
one is as certainly true TO nature as lts au
thenticity is beyond doubt This is an original
daguerreotype. taken in 1912. The other eX-
listing portraits mere 'lnterpreta
David dangers, Deveria, BertalI Geraru SesultI
and Louis Bollanger have each made a portrait
of the novelist depicting him according TO thelr
temperaments. Less known is the drawing py
CIavarni which shows BalZac at fuIl lenstn'
standing UP IN his dressing gown, en- negIge.
One of the gems of the Lovenjoul collection IS
the moulding of Balzacs right hand by Mar
nainfa which shows that BalZac had nhely
shaped aristocratic handS-a fact OF which ne
seems TO have been we'll aware In the auto
graph manuscripts of the De Loven1oul collec,
ton one is particularly struck with the small
number of erasures. BalZac made corrections on
his proofs instead of on the original manuscript,
and at times completely altered entire chapters
in this manner These priceless relics nave oeeh
obtained from many sources. Many OF me
manuscripts were sold by the families OF those
to whom Baizac had given them. Others were
hoIlght at the sale which took place after Mrne.
de Balzac's death. in 1889. MessrS. Calmann-
Levy RaIzacs editors owned a number OF Valu-
able manuscripts which they sent to NJ de
NJ de Iovenjoul'S collection Will find its way
back TO France, since stated above, the Bel
gfan savant has bequeathed 1t to the Academic
Francaise.