Balzac

Balzac, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE, born at Angoulême in 1594, in his youth was secretary to Cardinal la Valette at Rome. There he cultivated his taste for elegant composition, and on his return to Paris devoted himself to the refinement of his native language. His efforts in this direction have given him a permanent place in the literature of his country; and though his writings do not possess much intrinsic worth, they heralded the splendid phalanx of genius which adorned the subsequent age of Louis XIV. He was a favourite of Cardinal Richelieu, a member of the French Academy, a councillor of state, and historiographer. His violent literary disputes with Father Goula caused him to leave Paris and retire to his hereditary property of Balzac, where he died on the 18th February 1654. His collected works were edited by the Abbé Cassaigne (1665); selections, by Malitourne (1822), and Moreau (1854). Of all his works, his Lettres (1806) and Lettres Inédites (1874) are most admired.