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Noumena Press
Publisher of Classic & Contemporary Literature
The Human Comedy, Vol. IV:
A Second Home and Other Works
by Honoré de Balzac
Translated from the French by Clara Bell and George Burnham Ives
with Illustrations by Tony Johannot, Eugène Lampsonius, G. Staal, & Others


” . . . the duty of a woman, who wishes for domestic peace,
compels her to bury sufferings so keen as hers at the bottom of her heart,
and without a complaint.”


A Second Home

Day after day, a poor but beautiful young seamstress ceaselessly toils away by her window, waiting for the mysterious Monsieur Noir: a gentleman she hopes will be the answer to all her prayers . . .

Domestic Peace

A ball given at the height of Napoléon’s power is the scene of a wager between army comrades to see who will be the first to dance with an unknown lady in blue . . .


Madame Firmiani

Who is Madame Firmiani? Is she a beautiful society lady? A dangerous woman, a siren? Or is she perhaps nothing more than an innocent and charming hostess who gives wonderful tea parties? The rich uncle of a young man who has come under her sway is determined to find out . . .

Also included here are The Study of a Woman, The Imaginary Mistress, and A Daughter of Eve. Taken together, the six works presented in this volume share adultery and suspicion as their primary themes.


Version 1.0 (5 April 2016) 490 pages
ISBN-13: 9780976706267

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