A local’s guide to visiting the historic Shakespeare and Company in Paris, one of the most beautiful bookstores in the city with a vintage shopfront!
Shakespeare and Company is a bookstore I used to dream about, even when I was living in London and Rome.
I remember the first time I saw that vintage storefront, located in the heart of Paris, just a few minutes from the magnificent bridges that adorn the city and the banks of the Seine with its booksellers.
Shakespeare and Company is not just a bookstore, and perhaps this feeling is heightened by the fact that it is forbidden to take photos inside.
You can see a few on social media or on some blogs, but I decided to play along and let you discover this magnificent, very cozy bookstore that transports you back in time barely after – or even before – stepping over the threshold.
Shakespeare and Company, A Historic Bookshop in Paris
When I went to Shakespeare and Company a few weeks ago to, strangely enough, buy a book in French by Zola that I was looking for (which I later found at Boulinier in Châtelet), it was not only to see if they had the title I was looking for, Au Bonheur des Dames, but also to finally visit the interior.
It is true that when I was still a student and later when I worked in Paris, Shakespeare and Company was not the bookstore I turned to at first glance because it offers almost exclusively books in English, along with some souvenirs and gift ideas.
I spoke English well, but I wasn’t looking to buy new books and very often I headed more easily towards Boulinier, but also Gibert or even BookOff in Châtelet.
A bit of history now: Shakespeare and Company as we know it today is not the original.
The original was founded by the American Sylvia Beach at 12 rue de l’Odéon in 1919 and was the meeting point for the “Lost Generation” of authors, such as Hemingway or Joyce.
It closed during the Nazi occupation and never reopened its doors at that address.
In 1951, George Whitman opened Shakespeare and Company on rue de la Bûcherie, right across from Notre-Dame.
Initially, the bookstore was called “Le Mistral,” and in 1964, for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare, the shop was renamed with the agreement of Sylvia Beach.
Not only is Shakespeare and Company one of the best-known bookstores in Paris, but it is also one of the most unique with its concept of “Tumbleweeds.”
Indeed, Whitman described the bookstore as a “socialist utopia disguised as a bookstore” and welcomed the “Tumbleweeds,” who were traveling writers who could sleep for free in the bookstore.
In exchange, there was a small list of tasks, such as reading a book a day, helping at Shakespeare and Company for two hours, and writing a short one-page autobiography for the bookstore’s archives.
On the walls of the bookstore, you can still read George Whitman’s motto:
“Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.”
Today, people visit Shakespeare and Company for its magnificent selection of titles and its interior that resembles an old castle library with its nooks and crannies.
Still, it remains a historical place that, along with Sylvia Beach’s original bookstore, played a crucial role in world literature.
For example, it was she who took the risk of publishing Ulysses by James Joyce in 1922, while the book was censored and banned in English-speaking countries.
Also, in Sylvia Beach’s time, the bookstore served as a bank, a lending library, and a post office for writers short on means, like Ernest Hemingway.
Today, it is Sylvia Whitman, the daughter of the founder of the second bookstore, who runs the establishment.
Right next door is the Shakespeare and Company Café, where you can enjoy simple but delicious vegetarian cuisine with an unobstructed view of Notre-Dame.
If you are planning to follow a literary itinerary in Paris, you will find that Shakespeare and Company is a stop you absolutely must make, whether it is to treat yourself to the iconic Shakespeare and Company tote bag or to enjoy a moment out of time.
If you wish, I have already told you about several magnificent bookstores that I consider some of the best in Paris.
This includes Taschen on rue de Buci in the sixth arrondissement, Assouline on rue Bonaparte (also located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés), or Brentano’s on Avenue de l’Opéra, which is another historic English-language bookstore.
Shakespeare and Company, A Historic Bookshop in Paris
Furthermore, if you wish to visit Paris in a different way and are fond of places hidden from the general public, there are a few spots I have discovered in recent years.
These might please you, such as the Villa des Tulipes, the Passage Molière, the street art of Boulevard Vincent Auriol, or free viewpoints in Paris over monuments like the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe.
Personally, I love beautiful streets where you find unexpected instagrammable cafes like Maison Sauvage, as well as free museums like the Musée Carnavalet or the Musée Bourdelle near Gare de Lyon.
Paris always has something new to offer, even when it is ancient like the Arènes de Lutèce or a tad more modern like the covered Passage Jouffroy.
In any case, whether in the morning or the afternoon, a visit to Shakespeare and Company is something to have on your bucket list.
Shakespeare and Company Paris
Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris
Website: Shakespeare and Company