The Intimate Parisian Bookshop Shakespeare and Company

saywhatisobvious · 7 months

I bet you it smells good in there.

Books always smell good

JohnnyGz · 7 months

The owner seems like a fun woman. She was on Craig Ferguson's show when he was in Paris.

Found it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZnlW3bNQkA

Somewhere at the 5min mark.

Would be a great place to visit.

taozero · 7 months

Now that is my idea of a man cave.

lemoncholly · 7 months

Reminds me of Black Books.

loki010 · 7 months

During the 1920s, it was a gathering place for writers such as Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and Ford Madox Ford. It closed in 1941 during the German occupation of Paris and never re-opened.

The second is situated at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, in the 5th arrondissement. Opened in 1951 by George Whitman, it was originally named "Le Mistral" but renamed to "Shakespeare and Company" in 1964 in tribute to Sylvia Beach's bookstore. Today, it serves both as a regular bookstore and as a reading library, specializing in English-language literature. The shop was featured in the Richard Linklater film Before Sunset and in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris.

Wiki link.

Image source.

Edit: Clarity of quote.

Arthelo · 7 months

About 5 months back me and a friend looked at the shop to do with community architecture. It's a very interesting place and the staff are very friendly. They allow travelling writers, poets and others to sleep and eat there for a few hours of work a week. Although a lot of the staff were american and British there were others. Most however were quite attractive women which apparently is common, I am sure you can think of the reasons.

Upstairs are a few beds, benches for this. They also have a piano they encourage people to play, also a chess board.

The store is easy to find, its facing Notre Dame on the south side of the river. They are a bit cautious about photographs being taken mind, they don't want to disturb customers with photos being taken. However if you talk to the staff they will allow you as they did us for a good reason. I have a few photos although not of the quality of the OP's as we had to be quick not to disturb people.

videogameexpert · 7 months

I keep expecting to see the 8th doctor Paul McGann in these scenes.

eunicyclist · 7 months

Looks like an asthma attack waiting to happen

lurch65 · 7 months

I loved the idea of Shakespeare and Company, but it was a bit of a disappointment when I got there. I had much better luck with a place called Tea and Tattered Pages, which was lovely.

And bizarrely there is an article about the place written Monday, I was worried they had shut.

http://www.spottedbylocals.com/paris/tea-and-tattered-pages/

EDIT: Okay article may have been pushing it.

blown_to_pieces · 7 months

Owen Wilson is seen exiting this store in Woody Allens 'Midnight in Paris'.

HyphyMastah · 7 months

Is this the place Craig went on "Le Late Late Show Avec Craig Fergusen?"

Turbomullet · 7 months

This is how bedrooms would look like of redditors were hobbits!

h8bit · 7 months

I want my apartment to look exactly like that.

bricardo · 7 months

It must smell AMAZING!

If its warm it's heaven.

OlivieroVidal · 7 months

I'd rather have that than any house on MTV Cribs

primatesandme · 7 months

You should x-post this to [r/books](www.reddit.com/r/books).

esther_von_fun · 7 months

When i was 9 years old i started making a library in a corner of my room. This is how i imagined it would look when i was done. It looked nothing like this... I even misspelled the sign.

canadathejazzman · 7 months

YER A WIZARD HARRY

mattshields · 7 months

Where I got engaged

hippyro · 7 months

I visited this bookstore while walking the streets of Paris. I didn't realize just how historical it was. It was an amazing store though. They allowed students to take any book to a room with a desk and bed to stay as long as you wished to read. I chose "On Bullshit." My senior English teacher was incredibly jealous when I shared the whole story with her the next week, but she couldn't stop laughing after reading the book title.

livers · 7 months

relevant

GitEmSteveDave · 7 months

Can you find your wand there as well?

Bamka · 7 months

Reminds me of the book store in the first Neverending Story :D

wildhorses · 7 months

wow, that's an awful touristy place. americans love it though!

thebretandbutter · 7 months

Ernest Hemingway talks about this little shop in A Moveable Feast. Finally, school is giving me a leg up in something that matters!

Keyserchief · 7 months

I was in Paris for Christmas, only a few weeks after the owner, George Whitman, died. Here is the obit they had posted in the window - he, and the bookshop, loomed large in the Parisian artistic community.

What this doesn't show you is the second floor - it's full of seats and books that aren't for sale to read. It was basically the nexus for English-speaking hipsters in Paris, and hanging out and reading there was one of the highlights of my trip.

jamianm · 7 months

Where Celine ran into Jesse :)

spencerclark · 7 months

There's a piano in the back. Usually some one is playing some amazing music. Just perfect.

exploreinfiniteabyss · 7 months

I bet it smells fucking awesome in there

Kucas · 7 months

Been there. Beautiful, very close to the Notre Dame right?

Chelecossais · 7 months

Short animated video from Spike Jonze set in Shakespeare and Company.

beeeeeps · 7 months

Was this the book shop in Hugo?

damn_fine_pie · 7 months

Oh man...I spent such a long time in here when I was in Paris. Loved the sign above the upstairs door that said something like, "be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise".

nabster324 · 7 months

I loved visiting this place. Latin Quarter FTW!

banthis1 · 7 months

"Bastian made many other wishes, and had many other amazing adventures - before he finally returned to the ordinary world. But that's... another story. "

mickhugh · 7 months

I stopped in during a trip back in 2006. Check out what underneath the stairs looks like: image

muhammadc · 7 months

Here's a great view from the outside...its really a lovely place!

evil_bunny · 7 months

This store is amazing though I thought I would fall through the stairs going to the 2nd floor. Books crammed everywhere! My total sad dork moment though was realizing it was used as the "Watchers" place in the Highlander TV show. Shakes head. My Parisian friend had me buy the book "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French?" so I could better understand him. They even stamped the book with this seal stamp they have. Overall pretty awesome experience!

KimJongUno · 7 months

George Whitman (the proprietor) just died in December :(

/r/obituaries

WerewolfCircus · 7 months

i thought this said inmate. was confused.

salamander1305 · 7 months

I've actually was interviewed on camera about this place in front of Notre Dame a few years ago! I had completely forgotten about it!

Ridergurl10 · 7 months

I have wonderful memories of this store during my last visit to Paris. It is such a cozy place with wonderful staff. Plus a bookworm like myself could find books in English!! I love reading in French, but sometimes its nice to have a piece of home!

fanboat · 7 months

Reminds me of the sort-of secret bookstore in Read Or Die

NyQuil012 · 7 months

This title was very difficult to read. For some reason, my brain kept seeing "The Inmate Prison Bookshop."

Dark1000 · 7 months

I used to live a few streets down. It's a great bookstore, and they holds lots of interesting events, from book readings and talks to open mic nghts.

flumpis · 7 months

What is it called when a white milky substance spurts out of your penis? Because that happened to me right after I saw this picture.

offlink · 7 months

I wrote most of a paper in the reading room upstairs at Shakespeare and Co this summer. Honestly some of the nicest people I've ever met there.

coolbeans12345 · 7 months

I went here! It was my favorite place in Paris! They had this little writing nook with a typewriter and string lights. I dream of having a library like this.

breadraptor · 7 months

I've been here! There were little beds carved into the bookshelves that they rent out to college students. It would either be really creepy or really awesome.

LetsGo_Smokes · 7 months

Have a few books from there. Cozy little place.

WHATtheWEEZEL · 7 months

I was right outside of there when I visited Paris!! Now I'm disappointed that I never walked in! =[

moongoddessshadow · 7 months

I want to go to there.

DreamoftheEndless · 7 months

NEVERENDING STORY!

jonnypajama · 7 months

damn... would love to visit this

cormier1989 · 7 months

ive been in there never went to far in, too many hipsters hahaha. My GF took me there its a cool spot.

hdbngr15 · 7 months

Reminds me of the place where the wizards get their wands in Harry Potter.

DanielGK · 7 months

I bought copies of both Down & Out in Paris and London and On the Road there, which I thought was fun.

Helenius · 7 months

I bet it smells of rich mahogany and leatherbound books...

bo87 · 7 months

/r/bookporn

buterbetterbater · 7 months

This looks like Phoenix Used and Rare books outside Ithaca NY

drdraymd · 7 months

I love the picture of Walt Whitman they have hanging in one of the upstairs rooms (not pictured).

irlhero · 7 months

Found what i thought was the coolest bookshop here in Malmö. It was not much more than a display window and an apartment filled with books and they were just crammed in everywhere and there were ladders in strategic places. I was in love. The guy who ran the bookstore had a very 90's looking website and was very friendly. Needless to say everyone got books for christmas.

IM_THE_DECOY · 7 months

One of my biggest desires is the ability to stop time for the sole purpose of finding a place like this and spending a few decades doing Absolutely nothing but reading and learning and gaining all kinds of knowledge in the blink of an eye.

localguy69 · 7 months

Reminds me of Black Books.

lilaznroar · 7 months

I've been here, and it's awesome! Is it weird to say that it smelled cool?

baleenteen · 7 months

Right click => save image as

jennifermagnolia · 7 months

one of my best, most charming memories of my days in Paris. Thank you for reminding me. :)

fabiolanzoni · 7 months

Where is this located, exactly?

[deleted] · 7 months

You can stay there if you're in Paris and need a place to stay. All you have to do is write a short autobiography, read one book a day, and help open and close the store. I stayed for three nights about 4 years ago. It's like a little communist hotel.

ephemera505 · 7 months

That velvet chair sure must have absorbed so many farts over the years.

aela8670 · 7 months

That chair has my name all over it.

eisinger2 · 7 months

I want to go to there.

hey_mr_crow · 7 months

More lovely bookstores, including this one:

http://flavorwire.com/254434/the-20-most-beautiful-bookstores-in-the-world?all=1

Eskero · 7 months

Beeeeeen here. Its was beautiful.

M-V · 7 months

This place is exactly 50m away from my flat. I bumped into the title and was like Waaaaait a minute. Isn't there a Shakespeare thingy that sells books on the way to the laundry?

233C · 7 months

I hade the honor to meet George Whitman few years back, was a crazy and wonderful guy.

In case you don't know, aspiring young writers are housed for free in the shop in exchange for some chores.

Old man passed away last december at 98. Adieu George

newsjunkee · 7 months

My wife, kid and I like to go to Paris every few years when we can. We always stop by and visit...http://i.imgur.com/YDKbV.jpg

ilovetrexarms · 7 months

Right around the children's section back in that little nook, there are dozens of notes stuck to the wall. Some are secrets, while others are just declarations that someone had been there. It's really a wonderful, cozy place in an increasingly touristy area of Paris.

guntfuddler · 7 months

I've been here. Apparently, they have a policy that if you're a starving writer and you have no place to sleep, they let you crash on the floor for a couple nights.

fireinthesky7 · 7 months

I still have a book my parents bought me there when we visited in 1999, I think I was 10 at the time. Such a lovely place.

Aardvark218 · 7 months

I love that bookshop.

crystalhavokk · 7 months

That place is always crowded. You don't get the sense for the feeling this place gives when it's empty.

erveek · 7 months

Wow. That digital image manages to smell slightly yet not quite unpleasantly musty.

LocheAndLoad · 7 months

Loved that store on my visit to Paris this past summer. I spent a good two hours just looking through the different books.

Wyofire · 7 months

It is like an even smaller Black Books. Wonder if the owner is as crazy as Bernard?

psychicoctopusSP · 7 months

Been there many times. Nice little bookstore, but it's extremely pricey. There's others around the 5e arrondissement that are as cozy but not as pricey. I forget the name, but there's one run by a Canadian that offers free coffee and has a huge selection.

hiroukan · 7 months

TIL I learned that Shakespeare and Company has at least one time not been totally crowded

jerichi · 7 months

Easily one of my favorite places on earth.

xxyxxyxyx1 · 7 months

I was there last summer! So awesome, and the guy working there was super chill

mayaknife · 7 months

Shouldn't the US history books be moved to the right now?

DeuxRouge_frogs · 7 months

Fucking been there!

nvds · 7 months

God, I bet that place smells AWESOME

BokehBurgher · 7 months

now in HDR!

operation_hennessey · 7 months

monkey island, anyone?

tlrpsu · 7 months

reminds me of the little underground room in "the lovely bones"

i_have_a_bike · 7 months

i came here to look for books as a kid. the picture makes it look like something from harry potter, but if remember correctly the reality is a lot more crowded and dusty. Just seemed like a well stocked second hand bookstore. good selection though

Saphiric · 7 months

This place is awesome. Books EVERYWHERE. I got stuck upstairs when some of the staff started nailing boards to the wall of the staircase to make more shelfspace. So I fell asleep reading some memior on a sofa while my friend played the piano (Jet-lag). Fucking magical.

Beakerv16 · 7 months

Yer a wizard Harry!

laserfire · 7 months

It looks like the room in The Lovely Bones where the main character is raped and murdered.

Other than that, it looks pretty nice.

unlockedhed · 7 months

reminds me of Diagon Alley

Nightmares93 · 7 months

I'm going to Paris next week, visiting this bookshop is definately on my to-do list! :)

[deleted] · 7 months

Neat looking place, but functionality wise, I think if I had to find a book it would be a pain in the ass. Give me a Kindle with WiFi any day over this.

scobes · 7 months

Overpriced tourist trap filled with pretentious 'writers'. That place is awful.

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