No visit to Paris is complete without a trip to Shakespeare & Co.  This rambling bookshop with its romantic associations with the Lost Generation and the Beatniks provides a haven for book-lovers and writers.

The three floors are filled with books of all kinds, including First Editions and novels signed by their authors.  The creaking wooden floors, low ceilings, steep staircases and uncomfortable couches along with a black cat that sometimes appears out of nowhere all add to the esoteric character of this popular tourist attraction.  The building used to be a monastery, an appropriate background for a bookstore that promotes the love of learning.

Begun by George Whitman after the Second World War as a way to sell his huge collection of books and stay in Paris, it was originally one room.  George, a Communist, had difficulty making money at first.  Eventually, however, he was able to purchase the apartment above the stairs and the art gallery next
door to contain his ever-growing book collection.  Now Shakespeare & Co, so well-loved by expatriates and readers, is worth millions.

The store was originally called the Mistral bookshop.  However, George Whitman wanted to follow in the tradition of the famous American, Sylvia Beach, who owned the original Shakespeare & Co.  Forced to close by the Nazis during the war, she granted him permission to use the name.

Attracted to Paris not only because it was so supremely civilized and cosmopolitan but also because it was so inexpensive, the Lost Generation used to congregate at the original bookstore.  F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest
Hemingway and other struggling writers found a good friend in Sylvia Beach who supported them, helped them, and even let them stay in her bookshop if they were very down on their luck.  She agreed to publish Joyce's' great classic Ulysses which was widely regarded as pornography then and promptly banned in most countries, including the U.S.A.   Ernest Hemingway and a friend agreed to smuggle Ulysses into the States taking copies over the Canadian border hidden in their trouser legs.

George Whitman followed in Sylvia Beach's path supporting the Beat Generation, such as the famous poet Alan Ginsberg and the writers, Wright and Baldwin, who would give readings in the store.  Paris was still cheap, and shocked by the racist attitudes of many Americans, black writers such as Wright and Baldwin were pleased to find refuge and people interested in their writing.

On one of the walls of the bookshop visitors can find the inscription:  "Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise."  George Whitman has followed this advice which provides the motto of Shakespeare & Co. There are rackety old beds on the upstairs floors which are open to backpackers and writers, known as the Tumbleweeds.  The only conditions for staying here are that they help out in the bookstore and read a book a day.

George, following in the footsteps of the monks who used to live here, sees himself as a lamplighter lighting the way for students and writers.  He is in his eighties now, so one hopes that Sylvia, his daughter, named after Sylvia Beach, will continue to carry on such a great tradition.

Useful Information

Shakespeare & Co
37, rue de la Bûcherie
Tel: +33 143269650
Email:
Virtual tour: http://www.spherivue.com/a8.html

---
Lisa Sanderson is a talented contributor to Paris Eiffel Tower News. Hailing from "Down Under", she travels to Paris regularly and is crazy about the city. Reach her for professional writing jobs at  .