Private car service from Shakespeare library to Paris Orly airport

Histoiry and Visit to the library Shakespeare and Company in Paris

Shakespeare and Company is a small bookstore located in the Saint-Michel neighborhood at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, fifth arrondissement. Sanctuary of English literature, Shakespeare and Company houses the works of major English writers. Founded in 1951 by George Whitman, the trading name of the book was at the beginning “Le Mistral”. George Whitman was then a young American of 37 years arrived in France for three years. Student journalism, loving travel and great lover of the Scriptures, he began by selling books on a stall outside a hotel. But thanks to an inheritance, he could buy a small building with four levels he operated to live his passion.

Create with passion

The ground floor was for the sale of several selections of books in English, some are from internationally acclaimed writers. Others are more obscure works of writers, strangers who have never been drill in the profession. The first floor is a reading room, reserved for enthusiasts of English literature. The room is equipped with sofas, chairs, benches, tables and other furniture on which you can enjoy all kinds of books available for literary bulimic. It also includes old typewriters on which we can type a few lines in English. The second floor has apartments George Whitman and the third floor was equipped with beds for writers, readers and visitors.

A death in 1962, Sylvia Beach, the founder of the first Shakespeare and Company bookshop located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, George Whitman renamed his shop of the same name. With its new brand, George Whitman continued his literary epic. Hundreds of thousands of books are made available to the curiosity of bibliophiles, books crammed into all the shelves from floor to ceiling. Novels, newspapers, magazines, poems in English are the delight of lovers of reading. And the property owner continued to host writers more or less famous. These people could remain sleeping on the floor for days, weeks and even months, just in exchange for services rendered to the library and reading books.

The requirement of George Whitman

The only requirement of George Whitman was that the visitor makes his bed and cleans the room every day. In 2001, Sylvia, daughter of George Whitman replaced his father in the management of the library. It revitalizes activities by organizing cultural events. The FestivalandCo is held every two years, during which you can meet the English language writers in fashion. She did not, however, interrupted the reception of young writers, on the contrary, the place has become a real place of worship for English literature. And even encourages visitors to write their autobiographies and leave a trace of their passage.

The bookstore today

George Whitman died in December 2011 at the age of 98, leaving a great void in the world of English literature in Paris. However, the library is still there, with its front a bit dated, valiantly resisting the ravages of time. His air of another era displays a surprising detachment for the new business technologies, nowadays, where the window display is a real art to encourage customers to purchase, go shop. The library has remained the same, but not less attractive to visitors.