Where can you find all your favorite works in Shakespeare’s language in Paris? Paris is home to a number of English bookshops, each as full of treasures as the next. Some of them even offer a restaurant where you can have tea or lunch…After the most beautiful bookshops in Paris and the independent bookshops to visit, here are our favorite English bookshops! Some are world-famous!
Shakespeare & Co, the must-see
Shakespeare & Company is one of the capital’s best-known bookstores, whatever the language. And this cultural landmark, like many Parisian bookstores, is in danger. Since the 1950s, this bookshop has been a haven for lovers of English-speaking culture, with thousands of books in its collection. A warm place, where Anglo-Saxon charm awaits you with your next read.
📍Location: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris
The Abbey Bookshop, the treasure shack
The nuggest of English bookshops, right in the heart of the 5ᵉ arrondissement. Tucked away in a little street, this Canadian bookshop may be in mini, but its collection is huge. Expect to weave between the shelves, overwhelmed by the smell of books, a background of jazz in your ears. Here, classics of English and general literature mingle with the rarest finds. A real hidden treasure, and one of the most picturesque bookshops in Paris.
📍Location: 29 Rue de la Parcheminerie, 75005 Paris
WH Smith, the british one
Rue de Rivoli, under the arcades, WH Smith is one of the capital’s leading English-language bookstores. Since 1903, the address has been a meeting place for lovers of literature in VO, and today stocks over 70,000 books, as well as stationery and toys. To enter is to cross the Channel and find yourself directly in a large London bookstore. A change of scenery guaranteed, and the promise of leaving with a book to your taste!
📍Location: 248 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
San Francisco Book Company, the most West Coast
Travel to the West Coast, straight to the Bay Area. San Francisco Book Company is a real neighborhood bookshop, American-style. The shelves are overflowing with books from floor to ceiling, and you’ll probably get lost for hours exploring the entire collection. Many of the books are second-hand: the best way to find old editions that no longer exist!
📍Location: 17 Rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris
Galignani, the most historic
The history of the Galignani family dates back to 1520 in Venice. But it was in Paris, in 1801, that the first bookshop opened. In 1856, the booksellers and their books moved to rue de Rivoli, not far from WH Smith, also under the arcades. Although the Galignani bookshop is not exclusively Anglo-Saxon, the majority of its books are written in the language of Shakespeare. And anything not on the shelves can be ordered. Yes, everything. In the past , Galignani has even counted Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway among its customers.
📍Location: 224 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris