At head of title: The first complete translation into English."With a frontispiece in photogravure."v. 11. A harlot's progress. Esther happy. What love costs an old man. The end of evil ways. Vautrin's last avatar -- v. 13. The unconscious mummers. A prince of Bohemia. A man of business. Gaudissart II. The firm of Nucingen. Facino Cane. A princess's secrets. Bureaucracy -- v. 14. Cousin Betty -- v. 15. Cousin Pons. Old Goriot -- v. 16. Provincial Parisians -- v. 17. A most mysterious case. An episode under the terror. The seamy side of history. Z. Marcas -- v. 18. The member for Arcis -- v. 19. The Chouans. The country doctor -- v. 20. The peasantry. The country parson -- v. 21. The wild ass's skin. The quest of the absolute -- v. 22. The unknown masterpiece. Christ in Flanders. Melmoth reconciled. The Maranas. El verdugo. Farewell. The conscript. A seaside tragedy. The red house. The elixir of life -- v. 23. The child of malediction. A mad musician. The king's friend. Venetian nights.v. 24. About Catherine de{rcommaa} Medici -- v. 25. Seraphita. Louis Lambert. The exiles. v. 1. At the sign of the cat and racket. The Sceaux ball. The purse. The vendetta. Madame Firmiani. A daughter of Eve. Letters of two brides -- v. 2. A study of woman. Another study of woman. La grande Bretêche. Peace in the house. The imaginary mistress. Albert Savarus. A woman of thirty. A foresaken lady. La grenadière. The message. Gobseck -- v. 3. A marriage settlement. A start in life. A second home. Modeste Mignon -- v. 4. Beatrix. The atheist's mass. Honorine. Colonel Chabert. The commission in lunacy. Pierre Grassou -- v. 5. Ursule Mirouet. Eugénie Grandet -- v. 6. Pierrette. The abbé Birotteau. A bachelor's establishment -- v. 7. The jealousies of a country town. The old maid. The collection of antiquities -- v. 8. Parisians in the country. Gaudissart the great. The muse of the department. The lily of the valley -- v. 9. A distinguished provincial at Paris -- v. 10. Lost illusions. Two poets. Eve and David.

Originally published between 1838-1847 "A Harlot High and Low" continues the story of Lucien de Rubempre from Honore de Balzac's preceding novel "Lost Illusions." Central to the tale is the pact made between Lucien and Vautrin in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. A love affair between the beautiful Esther van Gobseck and Lucien creates a conflict for their plans of bringing Lucien to his desired exaltation though. When Vautrin realizes that wealthy Baron de Nucingen has fallen in love with Esther he conspires to use the Baron's affection with Esther to help advance Lucien. What follows is a series of tragic consequences. Another chapter in Balzac's magnum opus, "The Human Comedy," "A Harlot High and Low" is at once a biting commentary of French aristocratic society and examination of the criminal underworld in which Vautrin is so very well at home.

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A Harlot High and Low is the story of Lucien de Rubempre -Handsome, budding poet Lucien Chardon- and his love affair with the beautiful Esther van Gobseck. Lucien's Faust-like damnation is the consequence of a corrupt and decadent society which feeds on intrigue and loose morals. The novel depicts a vast panorama of the different strata of the French society where unsavory characters populate the criminal underworld, as well as the middle and upper classes. When Vautrin -the nefarious puppet master- realizes that wealthy Baron de Nucingen is pitifully infatuated with Esther, he conspires to help Lucien to achieve success in the Parisian society at the expense of the old Baron. Instead, a series of tragic events trump Lucien's ambition."