15 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if more life only gives a selfish man more time to betray those who love him?
Don Juan Belvidero has wealth, pleasure, and little concern for the people he uses. His father, Bartolomeo, holds something money alone cannot buy: a secret tied to prolonging life. As the old man nears death, that secret brings a darker weight to the bond between father and son.
In The Elixir of Life, Honoré de Balzac turns the legend of Don Juan into a short Gothic tale of desire and betrayal. Against Don Juan’s appetites stand the faithful love of his wife, Elvira, and the loyalty of his son, Philippe. What are such bonds worth to a man who treats promises as tools?
What you’ll discover
- A legend turned dark Meet a Don Juan whose hunger for pleasure makes the promise of longer life deeply unsettling.
- A father's guarded secret Discover how Bartolomeo’s private knowledge places more than a family fortune at stake.
- Love with little return See Elvira’s faithful trust set against a husband who gives little back.
- Loyalty against appetite Consider the contrast between Philippe’s conscience and his father’s habit of using others.
- More years, no wisdom Face Balzac’s sharp suggestion that a longer life does not teach anyone how to live.
Who will love it
This tale suits readers who enjoy gothic stories, dark humor and old legends retold with a sharp eye. It fits anyone curious about Balzac, or about what families feel while they wait for an inheritance.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Pleasure turns death into a joke
- A father's kindness meets a son's carelessness
- The phial exposes a hidden wish
- A living eye demands a choice
- Another lifetime becomes an excuse
- Trust becomes part of his plan
- Inheritance tests the appearance of love
Who’s who
- Don Juan BelvideroA charming, spoiled young heir in Ferrara who becomes a skeptic, mocks God and manipulates his family, and who wants a second life of pleasure.
- Bartolommeo BelvideroDon Juan's ninety-year-old father, a wealthy merchant and hermit who has spent years on a secret elixir and hopes to live again.
- Dona ElviraDon Juan's young, devout Andalusian wife in Spain, raised by an aunt, who cares for her husband in his last years.
- Felipe BelvideroDon Juan's obedient, religious son, who loves his father and attempts to carry out his deathbed instructions.
- The Abbot of San-LucarA fasting, clever churchman who guides Elvira and Felipe and is eager to bring honor and income to his convent.
- Pope Julius IIThe witty pontiff who talks with Don Juan as an equal and watches the great basilica of Saint Peter rise.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Elixir of Life in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Elixir of Life
by Honoré de Balzac · 1830
A son receives a means to revive the dead from his dying father, only to discover how little is left.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with challenging classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“A writer of the 20th century may also, on occasion, feel imprisoned by his time, and reading the great 19th century novelists – Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky – may bring on a certain nostalgia.”
In short
What would you do if your dying father handed you a way to bring him back, and the bottle held only a little? That is the question at the heart of The Elixir of Life, a short gothic tale by Honoré de Balzac, dated Paris, October 1830.
The Elixir of Life at a glance
- Reading time
- About 35 min30 min fast, 45 min slow
- Length
- 8,720 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1830by Honoré de Balzac
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A feast in Ferrara hides a cruel joke
The tale opens on a winter evening in a princely palace in Ferrara, in Italy. Don Juan Belvidero, a young heir, is giving a banquet for a prince of the House of Este. Balzac builds the room like a stage, with perfumed candles, red walls, white marble statues and Turkish carpets.
Seven women sit at the table, and each one speaks with her eyes as much as with her words. One says her beauty could warm an old man's frozen heart. A fourth drinks Chian wine and cries that she starts her life again every dawn. A sixth asks Don Juan when he will be Grand Duke. The question hangs over the table like a dare.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1830
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 40 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Balzac, Honoré de. The Elixir of Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-elixir-of-life.
Balzac, H. de. (2026). The elixir of life. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-elixir-of-life (Original work published 1830)
Balzac, Honoré de. The Elixir of Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-elixir-of-life.
@book{balzac2026elixir,
author = {Balzac, Honoré de},
title = {The Elixir of Life},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-elixir-of-life},
note = {First published 1830}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Elixir of Life
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Elixir of Life about?
It tells of Don Juan Belvidero, a young Italian nobleman whose dying father gives him a phial that can restore life. The tale follows what he does with it and how he later plans his own death.
Is The Elixir of Life based on a true story?
No, it is fiction. Balzac says in his preface that the idea came from a friend and may come from a story by Hoffmann. Dated October 1830, the tale also takes inspiration from the traditional Don Juan legend.
Who is Don Juan in Balzac's story?
He is Don Juan Belvidero, a charming, spoiled heir in Ferrara who grows into a skeptic. Balzac links him to figures such as Molière's Don Juan, Goethe's Faust and Byron's Manfred.
The author
Honoré de Balzac
1799–1850 · French novelist
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright born in Tours in 1799. He lived and worked in Paris, where he died in 1850. He wrote The Magic Skin in 1831, Eugénie Grandet in 1833, and Father Goriot in 1835. Many of his works belong to La Comédie humaine.
“Everything was a joke to him.”
More by Honoré de Balzac
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
