Audio GuideMaison de Balzac

Maison de Balzac is a writer’s house museum in Paris’s sixteenth arrondissement at forty-seven rue Raynouard, with an additional entrance on rue Berton. Housed in a historic pavilion that was once part of a grand residential estate and now a listed historical monument, it offers visitors an intimate look into the life of one of France’s greatest novelists. From eighteen forty to eighteen forty-seven, Honoré de Balzac lived here, even taking the pseudonym Monsieur Breugnol to escape his creditors.

Robert Van Kerkoerle

As you explore the museum, you will see Balzac’s personal study complete with his original writing desk and chair, as well as his distinctive turquoise-studded cane, teapot, and a coffee pot from years past. These items, together with manuscripts, letters, rare first editions, and corrected proofs from La Comédie humaine, reveal the writer’s routines and creative process. A lengthy genealogical chart of characters from his works also highlights the richness of his literary universe.

patrick gaffet

Beyond Balzac, the museum features collections linked to Théophile Gautier, along with busts of the writer created by noted sculptors like Auguste Rodin. Recent renovations, completed in two thousand nineteen, have enhanced accessibility and modernized the space with a café, reception area, and a redesigned garden. The garden spans roughly six hundred fifty square meters and offers a peaceful setting complete with mature trees and benches, with views that include the Eiffel Tower. The library holds an extensive collection of editions, illustrations, and critical works on both Balzac and Gautier.

florent chaudemanche

Maison de Balzac is part of Paris’s network of literary museums and plays an active role in promoting both historical and contemporary literature, as seen with the annual Balzac Prize established in two thousand twenty-one.