BALZAC, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE (1594-1654)

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 301 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BAI-BAR

BALZAC, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE (1594-1654) , French author, was born at Angou.leme in 1594. At the age of eighteen he travelled in Holland with Theophile de Viand, with whom he later exchanged

bitter

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

recriminations. He was early befriended by the duc d'

Epernon

EPERNON

and his son Louis, Cardinal de la Valette, who took him to Rome. His letters written to his acquaintances and to many who held a high position at the French

court

gained for him a

great

GREAT

reputation. Compliments were showered upon him, he became an habitue of the Hotel de

Rambouillet

, and his head appears to have been turned a little by his success. Richelieu was lavish of praise and promises, but never offered Balzac the preferment he expected. In 1624 a collection of his Lettres was published, and was received with

great

GREAT

favour. From the chateau of Balzac, whither he had retired, he continued to correspond with

Jean

JEAN

Chapelain, Valentin Conrart and others. In 1634 he was elected to the

Academy

ACADEMY, GREEK
ACADEMY, ROYAL

. He died at

Angouleme

ANGOULEME
ANGOULEME, CHARLES DE
VALOIS
- VALOIS, COUNTS AND DUKES OF
- VALOIS, HENRI DE [VALESIUS] (1603-1676)
, DUKE OF (1573-1650)

on the 18th of February 1654. His fame rests chiefly upon the Lettres, a second collection of which appeared in 1636. Recueil de nouvelles lettres was printed in the next year. His letters, though empty and affected in matter, show a real mastery of style, introducing a new clearness and precision into French

prose

PROSE

and encouraging the development of the language on national lines by emphasizing its most idiomatic elements. Balzac has thus the credit of executing in French

prose

PROSE

a reform parallel to Maiherbe's in verse. In 163r he published an eulogy of Louis XIII. entitled Le Prince; in 1652 the Socrate chretien, the best of his longer works; Aristippe ou de la Cour in 1658; and several dissertations on style.
His Euvres were collected (2 vols.) in 1665 by Valentine Conrart. There are numerous English translations from Balzac, dating from the 17th century.

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