business, gave a guarantee of thirty thousand francs, which represented
the invested capital, that had yielded the interest of fifteen hundred
francs, the sum allowed him at an earlier period. Mme. de Berny
interested herself in the proposed venture, and so did M.
d'Assouvillez, the former silent partner. Balzac acquired the
establishment of Laurens Sr., Printer, No. 17, Rue des
Marais-Saint-Germain, now Rue Visconti, at the cost of thirty thousand
francs, plus twelve thousand francs as an indemnity to Barbier, because
he was resigning from an assured position, and fifteen thousand francs
for equipments. On the 12th of April, 1826, he sent in an application
to the Minister of the Interior, and, thanks to two letters of
recommendation from M. de Berny, counsellor to the Royal Court of
Paris, he obtained his license on January 1st, as successor to
Jean-Joseph Laurens, retired.

What was Balzac's life during the two years that he practised the
profession of printer? In his contract of partnership with Barbier he
had reserved for himself the offices of bookkeeper and cashier, signing
papers and soliciting orders, while his associate was to attend to the
technical end of the enterprise. In order to feed his presses with
work, Balzac counted upon his energy, his will power, his spirit of
initiative and his tact; he mentally recapitulated the number of
publishers with whom he had had relations, and who beyond a doubt would
entrust their work to him. The printing house was located on the ground
floor of a distinctly gloomy building in the Rue des Marais, a street
so narrow that two carriages found it difficult to pass each other.

When he had finished his round of calls upon clients, he watched the
busy labour of his workmen in the fetid atmosphere of the composing
room, and he swelled with joy as though he himself were the motor power