Honoré de Balzac is busy with the publication of his novels. 1840.

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)

Autograph letter to his publisher Hippolyte Souverain.

One page in-4°.

Slnd [At Les Jardies, end of May 1840]

Pléiade Correspondence, Volume II, page 752.

Balzac is busy with the publication of his novels The Village Priest and Pierrette.

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"Give to Louis [Desnoyer] , the good leaves (1/2) 23 and 24 of the Curé.

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Then there are Pierrette's letters, which I'm waiting for so I can write the preface.

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Send what's printed to Sceaux [to Dépée, who printed *Le Curé de village*] and ask for a proof of this typeface, both page and sheet, as soon as possible. It's urgent; they won't take more than a day. I'll wait for it afterward. It should be two sheets with the title. See you Sunday.

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The Village Priest was initially published as a serial in La Presse starting in 1839. Later revised, the novel was published by Hippolyte Souverain in 1841 and included in the Scenes of Country Life section of La Comédie humaine. Balzac expressed his particular affection for this work: "I did not believe it possible to achieve such effects in literature. The Village Priest surpasses my expectations."

The novel Pierrette was initially published in January 1840 as a serial in Le Siècle , then in two volumes by Souverain in September of the same year. Dedicated to Anna Hańska, daughter of Countess Ewelina Hańska – whom Balzac would marry in 1850 – the work is attached to the second book of Scenes of Provincial Life in La Comédie humaine.