Many know about the bookshops “Shakespeare & Co”, the
present one and the original one … I wrote about them here and here. There is
another, possibly more discrete bookshop, but also (more than) full of old and new
books. It's named "The Abbey Bookshop". The owner, Brian Spence, of Canadian origin, opened this shop in 1989.
He has now some 39.000 titles to offer … most of them in English, but there is also
a large choice of especially French-Canadian books.
The shop is to be found in a beautiful early 18th
century building, in an old street. During the 12th century the
street was referred to as “Rue des Ecrivains” (the writers) and since 1387 it has been named “Rue de la Parcheminerie” (parchment making).
When you try to make your way in the shop, including downstairs, you wonder how it is possible to find a specific title you may be looking for.
I went there together with Swedish author Christina Björk, who found a number of interesting books. Brian also proved that he was able to quickly and easily find a specific book, e.g. the one that Christina wrote about "Linnea in Monet's Garden". I wrote about that book also in a post here.
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7 comments:
What an absolutely fantastic bookstore!!! Thank you so much for taking us here, Peter.
Kathryn
That looks like a great bookshop. I’d love to spend several hours there. But it is good that I am far away because we are trying to clear our house for our move to Nashville and I have thousands books to give away – so it is not the time to buy new ones!
Wow, thanks Peter for showing us this unique bookshop!
On my inner screen I have an image from a bookshop in Paris with WHITE covered books.... But I have never seen / heard about it in books & blogs about it. Perhaps it was a publishing house?
Well I have been to the "Shakespeare & Company" bookshop in Paris. Glad to know that it is still there. And I do remember the lazy cats and the interesting note boards too.
I love bookstores where you just have to get in there and dig around to see what might turn up--such as that book you've been looking for and thought you'd never find. This bookstore fills the bill. I'm sorry that I was only able to spend a few hours there, but one could easily spend days. I didn't even realize there was a downstairs. This is where you will find loads of books in English if that's what you're looking for. Would like to think I might get back there someday. Thanks for reminding me!
Gracias Peter por compartir con nosotros la foto de su talentosa amiga. La señora Christina tiene una belleza natural. ¡Me encanta su cabello!
Compre su libro "Linnea en el Jardin de Monet" para mi pequeño vecino por la Navidad. ¡El niño quedo encantado!
Esa tienda de libros...un lugar de ensueño...
Mil gracias por llevarnos alli a travez de sus excelentes fotos.
Maria
.
I'll have to remember this title if (and hopefully, when) I get back to Paris. It looks like my kind of shop -- books all over and someone who knows exactly where things are, just in case you're looking for something specific. But you never know what you'll discover that's even better than you hoped!
Great book store, organized chaos,,,Why am I not surprised,I have been in book stores like that, and the owner and staff can always found what you ask of them. Much to the chagrin of the smartly organized big chain bookstores where they have to look it up in the computer.
I have a copy of Christina Björk, "Linnea in Monet's Garden, bought it sometime ago, a beautiful little book.
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