Honore de Balzac Books in Order
80 books are credited to Honore de Balzac, published between 1823 and 2018; 25 of them appeared after Honore de Balzac's death in 1850. The first book is The Last Fay (1823) and the newest is The Chouans; The Gondreville Mystery, and Other Stories (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.
Honore de Balzac also publishes as Horace de Saint-Aubin, Lord R’Hoone, Saint Aubin, Viellerglé.
- Books
- 80
- Published
- 1823–2018
- Pages on record
- 6,424 in 26 of 80 books
Honore de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright, born 20 May 1799 and died 18 August 1850. The novel sequence La Comedie humaine gathers most of his fiction into a panorama of French life after Napoleon and counts as his major work. Close observation and an unfiltered account of society place Balzac among the founders of realism in European literature, and even his minor characters are morally ambiguous and fully drawn. The listing holds 80 books, from The Last Fay (1823) to a 2018 collection of The Chouans and other stories.
Source: Wikidata
How many Honore de Balzac books are there?
Honore de Balzac has 80 books, released between 1823 and 2018. 25 of them were published after Honore de Balzac's death in 1850. They include 2 series and 43 titles listed outside any series.
Honore de Balzac Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 80 Honore de Balzac books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of November 2026.
- 1The Last Fay1823 · 200 pages · confirmed 1/418232001/4
- 21830–1/4
- 3Treatise on Elegant Living1830 · 84 pages · confirmed 1/41830841/4
- 41830–1/4
- 51830–1/4
- 61830–1/4
- 71830–1/4
- 81830–1/4
- 91830–1/4
- 101831–1/4
- 111831–1/4
- 121831–1/4
- 141831–1/4
- 15After Dinner Stories from Balzac1832 · confirmed 1/41832–1/4
- 16My Journey from Paris to Java1832 · confirmed 1/41832–1/4
- 17The King's Sweetheart, The Maid of Thilouse, and The Reproach1832 · confirmed 1/41832–1/4
- 181832–1/4
- 191832–1/4
- 20Juana, and the Red Inn1833 · 104 pages · confirmed 1/418331041/4
- 21The Napolean of the People and El Verdugo1833 · 48 pages · confirmed 1/41833481/4
- 2218333901/4
- 231833–1/4
- 241833–1/4
- 251833621/4
- 261833–1/4
- 27The Quest Of The Absolute1834 · 226 pages · confirmed 1/418342261/4
- 28Seraphita1834 · 80 pages · confirmed 1/41834801/4
- 291834–1/4
- 30Melmoth réconcilié1835 · confirmed 1/41835–1/4
- 31Father Goriot and M. Gobseck1835 · confirmed 1/41835–1/4
- 321835–1/4
- 331836–1/4
- 3418371001/4
- 351838–1/4
- 361838–1/4
- 371838–1/4
- 38Massimilla Doni and Le Chef D'Oeuvre Inconnu1839 · confirmed 1/41839–1/4
- 391839–1/4
- 40La Rabouilleuse1840 · confirmed 1/41840–1/4
- 4118405281/4
- 42Tales of the Napoleonic Era1841 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/418414001/4
- 4318413531/4
- 441841–1/4
- 45A Tragedy by the Sea and Other Stories1842 · confirmed 1/41842–1/4
- 461842–1/4
- 471842–1/4
- 481842–1/4
- 49Illusions perdues1843 · confirmed 1/41843–1/4
- 50A Marriage Settlement, And, Modeste Mignon: And Other Stories1844 · confirmed 1/41844–1/4
- 511844–1/4
- 521844–1/4
- 531846–1/4
- 54Le Cousin Pons1847 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/418472721/4
- 55The Member For Arcis, The Seamy Side Of History, And Other Stories Part 21847 · confirmed 1/41847–1/4
- 56The Country Parson1896 · confirmed 1/41896–1/4
- 57About Catherine de Medici1900 · confirmed 1/41900–1/4
- 58Eugénie Grandet1914 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419142561/4
- 591929–1/4
- 60Père Goriot1950 · 274 pages · confirmed 1/419502741/4
- 61Cousin Bette1965 · 468 pages · confirmed 1/419654681/4
- 62The Black Sheep1976 · 339 pages · confirmed 1/419763391/4
- 63Lost Illusions1976 · 682 pages · confirmed 1/419766821/4
- 64The Wild Ass's Skin1977 · 285 pages · confirmed 1/419772851/4
- 65The Unknown Masterpiece1983 · 135 pages · confirmed 1/419831351/4
- 66The Atheist's Mass, and Other Stories1986 · confirmed 1/41986–1/4
- 67Ten Droll Tales1987 · confirmed 1/41987–1/4
- 68Old Goriot1987 · 368 pages · confirmed 1/419873681/4
- 69Domestic Peace1989 · 36 pages · confirmed 1/41989361/4
- 70Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau1989 · 190 pages · confirmed 1/419891901/4
- 71The Lily of the Valley1989 · 210 pages · confirmed 1/419892101/4
- 72A Woman Of Thirty2000 · confirmed 1/42000–1/4
- 73The Commission in Lunacy, and Pierre Grassou2006 · 108 pages · confirmed 1/420061081/4
- 74The Exiles, and Other Short Stories2006 · 226 pages · confirmed 1/420062261/4
- 75The Celibates And Other Stories2008 · confirmed 1/42008–1/4
- 76At The Sign Of The Cat And Racket / The Ball At Sceaux / The Purse / Madame Firmiani / Pierrette2009 · confirmed 1/42009–1/4
- 77Honore de Balzac, Vol. 8: Provincial Life2015 · confirmed 1/42015–1/4
- 79The Country Parsonand Albert Savaron2015 · confirmed 1/42015–1/4
- 80The Chouans; The Gondreville Mystery, and Other Stories2018 · confirmed 1/42018–1/4
Honore de Balzac books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Human Comedy in order
36 books- 1. Gobseck
- 2. A Second Home
- 3. Sarrasine
- 4. An Episode Under The Terror
- 5. The Elixir of Life
- 6. Study of a Woman
- 7. A Passion in the Desert
- 8. The Red Inn
- 9. The Recruit
- 10. Maitre Cornelius
- 11. The Hidden Masterpiece
- 12. The Magic Skin
- and 24 more in the table above
Les Illusions Perdues in order
1 bookStandalone books
43 books43 Honore de Balzac titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Honore de Balzac books in order?
You only need to read Honore de Balzac books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Honore de Balzac
Start with The Last Fay (1823), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Honore de Balzac book?
The Chouans; The Gondreville Mystery, and Other Stories (2018) is the newest Honore de Balzac book released so far.
Is there a new Honore de Balzac book coming?
No next Honore de Balzac book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Honore de Balzac at a glance
- Died
- Honore de Balzac died in 1850, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Honore de Balzac are still being published after Honore de Balzac's death in 1850; the newest appeared in 2018.
- Release pace
- Honore de Balzac books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 6,424 pages across the 26 of 80 books with a recorded length, a median of 226 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Honore de Balzac books, 38 of 80, were published in the 1830s.
When Honore de Balzac books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Honore de Balzac titles appeared. 1830s was the most productive decade with 38 titles.
80 books total across 13 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Honore de Balzac books are about
15 of the 80 Honore de Balzac books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: social life and customs is tagged on 9 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Social life and customs 9 of 15 books
- France 4 of 15 books
- France in fiction 4 of 15 books
- Translations from French 3 of 15 books
- Chinese fiction 2 of 15 books
- Fathers and daughters 2 of 15 books
- Fathers and daughters in fiction 2 of 15 books
- French fiction 2 of 15 books
- French literature 2 of 15 books
- History 2 of 15 books
- Older men 2 of 15 books
- Older men in fiction 2 of 15 books