New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-04-15
BAlZAC
An Unpublished Story by the
Great Frenchman.

I,AMOJJR MASQUE, on IMPRUDENCE
EFT BONHEUR. Roman inedit q no
more de Balzac. Svo. PIP. 62. PARIS: La
Renaissance Gu Livre. Jean Giilequlh
& C.e.
There is no sound reason for doubling
the authenticity Of this hitherto unpub-
lished and practically unknown tale from
the pen of the author of the "Comedie
Humane" Its history, as given In the
publishers brief preface, is clear BAL
FAC presented this novelette,, which Is
some thirty thousand words long, TO TIE
Duchesse de Dino, In grateful recog-
milton Of the hospitality which she ex-
tended to him as to other men OF letters
of the period. The manuscript was eiap-
orately bound by Lesort. and placed IN
the library Of the ducal family side by
side with similar graceful literary trib-
utes from Alfred de Musset and Eugene
Sue holograph editions of a single copy.
The present Due de Dino. the son of the
recipient OF these treasures. has now
consented to the addition Of this Balzac
story to the vast body Of his published
work.
The value Of "L'Amour Masque' Will.
however, continue TO reside IN that
sumptuously bound manuscript. AS 1T
erature IT adds nothing to Balzac's fame
The plot is constructed with a naive
abuse Of coincidence; the emotions OF the
characters are described with an In
tensty that is amusingly old-fashioned;
It recalls so wildly the romanticist UNI
realities Of a literary generation dead
and gone and forgotten. Even the hero,
an officer Of French cavalry, approaches
the swooning point with amazing facility
and frequency. Yet, old-fashloned
though it be in treatment, the story Is
strikingly modern in subject. In 1t Bal
FAC approaches the doctrine of eugenics
from the point of view Of a woman's
right TO happiness. The heroine is the
widow of a despised and despicable hus-
band, to whom she had been married by
her parents command. Her experience
has taught her to dread the bondage of
matrlmony; she rejoices that the In
carnated evil her husband was has not
been handed down to another genera
ton through her, but, resolved never to
marry again, she yet would have the
sacred joys Of motherhood A mask,
domino. the bal de rOpera-one cannot
help thinking Of Gavarni-then refec-
tons upon the rights Of fathers and chill
dren. and happy ending.
AS has already been said the treat
ment is Uicur jcu, but it reflects to per-
lection tho literary fashion of the period
in which the story is laid. that Of the
first quarter Of the last century. This
date is fixed for us by the return OF the
wounded hero from Spain, where, in
1898 French arms restored absolutism by
the mandate of Metternich and the Holy
Alliance While not absolute proof, this
bit Of chronology. added TO the literary
quality of the story, gives additional
probe ability 10 the surmise that we have
in "LAmour Masque" one of Balzac's
earliest literary ventures, a relic from
the long period of failure. and undis-
couraged persistence that preceded his
emergence from obscurity. The informa-
ton vouchsafed us concerning the manu-
script by the publishers Is unpardonably
scanty. Beyond the facts already
quoted, we have merely the additional
statement that It has reposed In the Dino
library FOR more than fifty years.
Ralzac died over sixty years ago, conse-
quently the inference would be that he
made this graceful Offering TO the
duchess toward the end of his life. He
the man of many poses. may well have
led her to believe that it was a bit of
prose Occasion" specially written for
Ter. when in reality he had dug II out
OF a pile of old manuscripts that could
be of no possible future use 10 him. So
cial insincerities were not strange TO
him. nor have they been nor are they
strange to-day to the members Of the
guild Of letters.
This question. a rather curious one,
can be settled only, if at all, by Bal
zacians on the spot. probably by a study
of the manuscript itself. OF its condi-
ton we are not told; II probably is
fair copy, but even so. an examination
Of its chirography might throw llght
.lo date &c itc porpuOSit ion.