Louis Lambert / The Exiles / Seraphita

Louis Lambert, The Exiles, and Seraphita are three titles from the "Philosophical Studies" of Honoré de Balzac's magnum opus, The Human Comedy, which includes about 100 linked stories and novels. The three works included in this volume are thematically connected by their engagement with the spiritual doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg.

Louis Lambert examines the life and theories of a boy genius who is enrolled in the Collège de Vendôme by a benefactor, the real-life author Madame de Staël. But...