The famous French writer, one of the founders of realism in literature, Honore de Balzac persistently sought the formula of his time, the formula of human existence. In search of a universal key to the human universe, he created a whole world - "Human Comedy", a unique cycle that unites several dozen novels and novels and many characters. "My work," Balzac wrote, "must embrace all types of people, all social positions, it must embody all social changes, so that no life situation, no person, no character, male or female, no one's views ... are forgotten." The novels included in the present edition represent different parts of this cycle: "The Shine and Poverty of Courtesans" - "Scenes of Parisian Life", "Eugene Grande" - "Scenes of Provincial Life", "The Lily of the Valley" - "Scenes of Country Life" . Secular beauties and fallen women, usurers and young ambitious people, aristocrats, bankers, policemen and the urban poor - all of them become heroes of Balzac, for whom the spiritual qualities of people do not depend on social status. An unsurpassed novelist, Balzac was able to combine a fascinating plot and subtle psychological analysis, pictures of social mores and a piercing story of a particular person.