Shakespeare and Company is a famous independent English-language bookstore located in Paris on the Left Bank, near the Seine and opposite Notre-Dame. It was originally founded by Sylvia Beach in 1919, becoming a significant literary meeting place for major writers of the Lost Generation such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. After closing during World War II, the name was revived in 1951 by American George Whitman, who renamed his bookstore to Shakespeare and Company in 1964 as a tribute to Sylvia Beach and Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his birth. The bookstore became a hub for the Beat Generation and continues today as a vibrant literary and cultural landmark, also known for hosting aspiring writers and artists who stay in the shop in exchange for help. It is known for being a quirky, beloved space combining new and used books, a reading library, and literary events.
