A great admirer of himself, he foresees for his work the notoriety of Napoléon and puts his social classification on the rank of the scientific works by Buffon and Cuvier. According to the mood of his time he is very keen of physiognomy.
He was born in Tours : for provincial life, his experience is direct. He has met during his childhood these bourgeois, these doctors and these priests who do not understand the unpleasant character of their own pettiness. Balzac does not exclude anything from the mental environment of his bourgeois who are, depending on the individuals, either attracted, repulsed or little concerned in religion or occultism.
Ursule Mirouët, written in 1841, is the story of an innocent girl whom everyone in her surrounding manages to disinherit. Balzac is particularly satisfied with this novel which will soon become the first opus of the Scènes de la Vie de Province in the complete edition of La Comédie Humaine by Furne.
Ursule Mirouët's first-run manuscript will be sold on December 20 in Paris (Hôtel Drouot) in the inaugural auction of the Aristophil collections operated by Aguttes and OVA, lot 45 estimated € 800K.
According to Balzac's usual practice, this manuscript has many differences with the final published text. Indeed he preferred to write in speed and to rely upon the printing proofs for reviewing the consistency and bringing innumerable corrections.
Ursule Mirouët is one of only two first-run manuscripts from La Comédie Humaine in private hands. The other example, Massimilla Doni, on music, is a little away from the main social stream of Balzac.
Please watch the video shared by Aguttes.
SOLD for € 1.17M including premium
1 170 000 € pour le manuscrit Ursule Mirouët, d'Honoré de Balzac lors de la vente des Collections #Aristophil chez @CAguttes pic.twitter.com/Dxa8YulBdx
— Drouot (@Drouot) December 20, 2017