Louis Lambert is an 1832 novel by French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), included in the Etudes philosophiques section of his novel sequence La Comedie humaine. Set mostly in a school at Vendome, it examines the life and theories of a boy genius fascinated by the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Balzac wrote Louis Lambert during the summer of 1832 while he was staying with friends at the Chateau de Sache, and published three editions with three different titles. The novel contains a minimal plot, focusing mostly on the metaphysical ideas of its boy-genius protagonist and his only friend (eventually revealed to be Balzac himself). Although it is not a significant example of the realist style for which Balzac became famous, the novel provides insight into the author's own childhood.