Shakespeare and Co
The Notre Dame, the Louvre…fortunately, these are not all the Paris sights, but unfortunately the tourists often don’t have enough time to study all the attractions of the French capital. To be in Paris without a guide can be a big luck because it allows to have a closer look at the capital, especially if you’re, as the Frenchmen say, “artiste”.
Artists, writers, poets and other creative personalities will certainly be impressed by the visit to the small bookstore at 37 Rue de la Bucherie. Its history is very interesting if not unique.
In 1921 Sylvia Beach, the daughter of an American priest, came to Paris and opened a small store under the signboard “Shakespeare and Co”. Here appeared the books of such American writers as Hemingway and Fitzgerald, who were unfamiliar to the European reader. In 1920s Bernard Shaw, Paul Valery, Andre Gide and James Joyce used to visit the store quite often.
By the way, that was Sylvia Beach, who agreed to print the “Ulisse” by James Joyce, which was prohibited by the censorship and rejected by the English readers. Her courage was rewarded: soon after the publication the book was a great success. Ernest secretly transported one copy of the book to the USA in the trouser leg.
In 1941, during the Nazi occupation, American writers living in France were either recruited or deported to the USA. The store of Sylvia Beach went on working. Not for a long time, though.
One morning a German officer appeared in the store. He wanted to buy “Finnegans Wake” by James Joyce. As the copy of the book was the last one in the shop, Sylvia refused to sell it. The German left the store promising to close it. In the twinkling of an eye, Sylvia gathered her friends, took the books away and painted over the signboard. Several hours later came the Nazis sent by the officer. They were greatly surprised when they found no bookstore there! “Shakespeare and Co” together with its owner simply disappeared in the air!
But this is not the end of the story.
In 1951 another bibliophile, George Whiteman, American by origin, opened a small store at 37 Rue de la Bucherie and called it “Mistral”. The conception of the bookstore was changed: he created conditions that allowed the young writers to work and live at the shop. He put beds and the young talents, who were hard up, could create right in the store.
He bought books at flea markets and had a wonderful collection. After the death of the French writer Simona de Bovuar, Whiteman bought her huge collection of rare books.
In 1964, with Sylvia Beach’s permission, he renamed the shop into “Shakespeare and Co”, thus underlining the continuity of tradition to help the young unrecognized artists. His shops became the main place for meetings of the artistic intelligentsia of 1960s.
The writers and artists still have a right to stay there for some time on condition that they work at the shop for one hour and read one book a day.
The doors of “Shakespeare and Co” are open from 12 am to 12 pm. The store is really worth visiting, especially if you’re a poet, artist or a writer. And if you suddenly get inspiration and decide to work at “Shakespeare and Co” – you can always count on a sofa and a typewriter!
(ArticlesBase SC #388443)
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