Les contes drôlatiques

By Honoré de Balzac

Subjects: FICTION / Short Stories (single author), Short stories, Translations into English, FICTION / Classics, France in fiction, French Short stories, Manners and customs, Continental european fiction (fictional works by one author), Protected DAISY, Fiction, Romance literature, Social life and customs

Description: A collection of stories with a mediaeval theme rather after the style of Rabelais. Early editions were illustrated by Gustav Dore and were published by Garnier Freres of Paris. The stories range from the absurd to the downright grim but the illustrations give them a life of their own. Rather off-putting to the reader used to modern French, the stories are written in an archaic French that is not always easy to interpret.