Madame Bovary

To Marie-Antoine-Jules Senard Member of the Paris Bar, Ex- President of the National
Assembly, and Former Minister of the Interior Dear and Illustrious Friend, Permit me to inscribe
your name at the head of this book, and above its dedication; for it is to you, before all, that I owe
its publication. Reading over your magnificent defence, my work has acquired for myself, as it
were, an unexpected authority.
Accept, then, here, the homage of my gratitude, which, how great soever it is, will never attain
the height of your eloquence and your devotion.