Ten Droll Stories

1926

Special Collections PQ 2164 A45 1926

London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd

Originally, the French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) talked of writing 100 Contes drolatiques that would appear in ten volumes. In reality, he finished 30 stories, publishing under the title, Les Cents Contes drolatiques, in 1832, 1833, and then 1837; the other 70 remain fragmentary pieces. Although best known for his large novel sequence La Comédie Humaine, it was to his Droll Tales that he looked for literary immortality: ‘The Droll Tales will constitute my principal title to fame in days to come’ (letter to Madame Hanska, August 1833). They have been illustrated by many artists, including Gustave Doré and Mervyn Peake. Here Jean de Bosschère (1878–1953), the Belgian artist, offers his interpretation on Balzac’s Rabelaisian tales.