The Collection of Antiquities

In post-Revolutionary France, the proud but diminished d'Esgrignon family clings to the ruins of its ancient name. Balzac traces their decline with irony and tenderness: the Marquis d'Esgrignon, a relic of feudal nobility, struggles to preserve lineage, honor, and ritual even as war, exile, and social change strip away his power. Through the devoted Chesnel, the family slowly recovers its ancestral house, only to confront loss again in the death of the Marquis's wife and the burdens of survival. The household becomes a haunting museum of old aristocratic splendor, admired and mocked by a new liberal society. As émigrés return and loyalties divide between Napoleon and the monarchy, the Marquis's salon remains a refuge of hereditary pride. Yet the next generation is drawn toward Paris, where Victurnien falls under the spell of the dazzling Duchesse de Maufrigneuse and plunges the family into debt and danger. Chesnel, guardian and sacrifice, sells his own lands to protect the d'Esgrignons from scandal and ruin. Around them stands Mlle. Armande, beautiful, noble, and tragic—a figure of grace whose devotion embodies the fading grandeur of the ancien régime. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.