Paris: Shakespeare and Company and George Whitman (12 December 1913 - 14 December 2011)

I was fortunate enough to visit Shakespeare and Company on my recent trip to Paris but unfortunately, a day late to ever hope to meet a truly remarkable man, bookshop owner and bookseller.  George Whitman passed away peacefully in his beloved bookshop at the grand old age of 98.  The bookshop is unique.  I love how Whitman did not modernize his bookstore but rather, kept it as it was.  I love the haphazard way he arranged his books.  I love how he filled every available space with books.  There are literally books everywhere, from floor to ceiling, under the stairs, everywhere.  I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life there, reading and working in a bookshop such as Shakespeare and Company!  The bookshop's longstanding success is a truly remarkable feat because sadly, all too often, small businesses are shut down, forgotten, never to be seen again in this day and age.  I will tell my stories with the photos my husband took in his own way while I was standing in awe of the bookshop because it seemed like another world.  I would like to go back again and again.  (If the reader wants to read an article instead of looking at my amateurish photos, please scroll down below).

Leading upwards.

A very worn tattered armchair.

Reading sofa with well-used cushions.

A view of Notre Dame from the writer's desk.

A very old typewriter on a desk in a cosy nook.

 An old rattan chair with a hole in the middle in the cosy nook.

The view into the courtyard from the cosy nook.

My dream bedroom.

Messages and letters from happy customers.

Whitman's motto.

Literary wallpaper.

I bought a book from this section.

The floor of the bookshop on the ground floor.

Now for videos:

The literary world remembers the owner of Shakespeare and Company, George Whitman:

George Whitman, a great man:



He is survived by his daughter, Sylvia Beach Whitman, present owner of Shakespeare and Company:





Articles on George Whitman and his legendary bookstore:

The Telegraph Part I.

The Telegraph Part II.

BBC News.

Cara Black (French writer).

May he rest in peace - George Whitman.