Discover an American Shakespeare in Paris, Shakespeare and Company, if you are on the hunt for an English bookstore in the City of Light. In 1951, American expat George Whitman opened his bookstore, then Le Mistral, with some of the books he had collected while a student at the Sorbonne. In 1964, Whitman changed it to Shakespeare and Company assuming the storied name from another American’s bookstore in Paris. We’ll explore the history a little more in a minute. For now you want to know that Shakespeare and Company is right in the middle of where you want to be on your first visit to Paris. It is directly across the Seine from Notre Dame, on the Left Bank in the Latin Quarter. This is where all the bohemian hipsters and literary giants have been coming for nearly a century to share ideas while seeing and being seen. You too, can become part of that history with a visit to Shakespeare and Company.
Back in 1919, another American from New Jersey, Sylvia Beach, opened the first Shakespeare and Company. She mingled with many Belle Epoque artists in Paris as well as the writers of the Lost Generation who flocked to her store including Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and Man Ray. If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s love story to Paris, Midnight in Paris, you may remember seeing Gil Pender visit the modern day Shakespeare and Company. All the writers he idolized, and travels back in time to meet, are part of the scene at Beach’s bookstore. Ernest Hemingway even mentions her store in A Moveable Feast. Both a lending library, as well as a bookseller, it was a location to obtain copies of books banned in the U.S. like D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover. She was also the initial publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses, which was also found on banned books lists. At least four of the writers she nurtured went on to win the Noble Prize for literature. Once the German’s occupied Paris during World War II, Shakespeare and Company was closed.
Fast forward to 1951, when George Whitman opens Le Mistral and attracts another generation of American literary giants. This time it’s Allen Ginsburg, William S. Burroughs and others of the Beat Generation. It opened 2 years before Lawrence Ferlinghetti opened sister bookstore, City Lights, in San Francisco. Whitman allowed writers, poets and artists to stay at his store in exchange for work and reading one book a day, thus beginning a long tradition of people boarding in the shop adding to the ambiance as you browsed for books while leaning over someone’s cot. When Sylvia Beach died in 1962, she willed the Shakespeare and Company name as well as her substantial personal collection of books to George Whitman. Two years later he assumed the name Shakespeare and Company for his store.
Today, Shakespeare and Company is owned and run by his daughter, Sylvia Beach Whitman. Her father passed on the store to her in 2003. Three years later, George Whitman was awarded France’s Officier des Arts et Lettres in recognition of his contributions over many decades. He died in December, 2011, just two days after his 98th birthday, in his apartment above the bookstore. Along with the de Groot Foundation, Shakespeare and Company now hosts the Paris Literary Prize since 2010 offering cash awards to three outstanding writers. The bookstore also hosts regular events, readings, workshops and festivals continuing its long standing tradition of supporting artists in Paris.
Visiting Shakespeare and Company can make you a bit overwhelmed just by the shear volume of books crammed into such a small space. You’ll find it to be a number of small rooms opening on to other small rooms. Books tucked everywhere there is a spot and in some places there isn’t. Venture up the narrow stairs and explore the second floor as well. Many discoveries await you there like the quote above a doorway, “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.” A loose reference to a verse from Hebrews 13:2 in the New Testament, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Surely this philosophy was echoed in the practice of inviting writers to stay at the bookstore while in Paris, at one time reported to be 40,000. Pull books off the shelves as you browse and you may discover that many of them have been signed by the author with an inscription to Shakespeare and Company.
Shakespeare and Company has been featured a number of times in films and news reports. In addition to Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris as mentioned above, you can also learn more about George Whitman and his store in the Sundance Channel documentary “Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man.” There is an interesting scene included where Whitman demonstrates how to trim his own hair by using the flame of a candle and reportedly sets himself on fire. I know I’ve added it to my must-be-watched list for when it comes on next. A audio clip of a 2007 interview with George Whitman and his daughter Sylvia by PRI’s The World reporter Gerry Hadden for Public Radio can be listened to through their report on Whitman’s death. You can also find the bookstore featured in the movie Before Sunset. The sequel to Richard Linklater’s ode to travel, Before Sunrise, you catch up with lead character Jesse (played by Ethan Hawke) as he finishes a reading of his book at Shakespeare and Company. Both Midnight in Paris and Before Sunset were recognized by the Academy Awards, with awards and a nomination respectively.
To begin your own adventure at Shakespeare and Company, head across the bridge after your visit to Notre Dame and you’ll find them right there at 37 Rue de la Bucherie, just off the Quai de Montebello. You can learn more, including their current events schedule, by visiting the Shakespeare and Company website.
Interested in picking up your own copy of a book or film mentioned in the post above but not planning a trip to Paris? Here are some links for your ease!
D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover:
James Joyce’s Ulysses:
Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Fest:
Midnight in Paris:
Before Sunset: