ABOUT BOOK

"he Deputy of Arcis," of which Balzac wrote and published the first part in 1817. was left unfinished at his death. He designated M. Charles Rabou, editor of the " Revue de Paris," as the person to take his notes and prepare the rest of the volume for the press. It is instructive to a student of Balzac to see how disconnected and out of proportion the story becomes in these latter parts, — showing plainly that the master's hand was in the habit of pruning away half, if not more, of what it had written. Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley.