Biography as Adaptation Balzac, Vidocq, and Vautrin in Balzac chez lui by Léon Gozlan

Based on the analysis of a chapter of Léon Gozlan’s Balzac chez lui, we propose reading nineteenth-century author biographies (and, in particular, “intimate” biographies, such as memoirs or “literary memories”) as adaptations of the work, since they draw a portrait of the author whose features belong more to his characters and his authorial scenarios than to aspects of his real life.