During Balzac's stay in Geneva (from Dec. 25 to Feb. 8) nineteen
letters are given; all dated indiscriminately "Geneva, January, 1834."
Eleven of these are friendly little notes, such as would naturally
pass between friends in daily intercourse. The remaining eight contain
matters so disloyal that I place in an Appendix a letter from Balzac to
his friend Madame Carraud, _written at the same time_, and leave the
reader to form his own judgment.
Next follow twelve letters (from Feb. 15 to March 11, 1834) which I
characterize as infamous forgeries. But their refutation is not far to
seek; it is _here_, in this volume,--in letters from Balzac that bare
his soul in the tragic struggle of his life; letters that show the deep
respect of his heart and of his mind for the woman whom he held to be
his star and the guide of his spirit.--TR.]