He foresaw the dawn of his deliverance: he
would be able to achieve his gigantic task in peace.
Balzac was fully conscious of his genius and of the greatness of the
monument which he had already partly raised. He objected to being
classed with the men of letters of his period, and for some time past
had claimed recognition as standing on a higher level. Eugene de
Mirecourt was witness of a scene which bore evidence to his justifiable
pride:
"It was during the winter of 1843," he wrote, "that Messrs. Maulde and
Renon published a Picture of the Great City, which was edited by Marc
Fournier, the present manager of the Port-Saint-Martin theatre.
"One evening Balzac entered the publishers' office and said:
"'Our agreement, gentlemen, was that I should be paid for my Monograph
on the Parisian Press at the rate of five hundred francs a page.'
"'That is so,' they replied.
"'I have received only fifteen hundred francs and there are four pages;
accordingly you still owe me five hundred francs.'
"'But your corrections, M.
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