The Quest of the Absolute

{{short description|1834 novel by Honoré de Balzac}}

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{{Infobox book

| name = The Quest of the Absolute

| title_orig = La Recherche de l'absolu

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| image = BalzacQuestAbsolute01.jpg

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| author = Honoré de Balzac

| illustrator = Édouard Toudouze

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| country = France

| language = French

| series = La Comédie humaine

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| pub_date = 1834

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The Quest of the Absolute (French: La Recherche de l'absolu) is a novel by Honoré de Balzac.{{cite journal|author=Hayward, Margaret|title=Review: Balzac et 'La Recherche de l'Absolu' , by Madeleine Fargeaud|journal=Modern Language Review|date=April 1973|volume=68|issue=2|pages=416–422|jstor=3725892}} The novel first appeared in 1834, with seven chapter-divisions, as a Scène de la vie privée; was published by itself in 1839 by Charpentier; and took its final place as a part of the Comédie in 1845.

The astronomer Ernest Laugier helped Balzac in the use of chemical terminology in this novel.{{cite journal|title=Quel est ce Laugier?|journal=La Chronique Médicale|year=1907|volume=14|pages=405–407|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVBYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA405}}