The Paris AtlasCharting the artists, works, and places worth returning to.
  • Bookseller
· American · 1913–2011

George Whitman

Founder of the second Shakespeare and Company at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, who housed thirty thousand writers between the shelves.

In images

Details

Lived
1913–2011
Born
12 December 1913
Birthplace
East Orange, New Jersey
Died
14 December 2011 · aged 98
Place of death
Paris
Nationality
American
Roles
Bookseller

George Whitman’s Places

The cataloged places connected to George Whitman — through the books, and through the documented record.

Places you can enter today appear first, followed by addresses to see from outside and sites that have vanished.

The weathered green and gold Shakespeare and Company storefront today, a reader browsing at the window, the rue de la Bûcherie sign above

Bookshop · Latin Quarter

Open — go in

Shakespeare and Company (Rue de la Bûcherie)

Whitman opened the shop as Le Mistral in 1951 and ran it for sixty years on the rule 'give what you can, take what you need' — living above it until his death at ninety-eight, two days past his birthday, in 2011.

Visit the place

Organizations

Founded · 1951

Shakespeare and Company (rue de la Bûcherie)

George Whitman opens Le Mistral at 37 rue de la Bûcherie in 1951 — the English-language bookshop that will later carry Beach's shop name.

— shakespeareandcompany.com — history

Connections and Sources

George Whitman’s connections to people, places, and works, with the sources behind each one.

Founded · 1951

Shakespeare and Company (rue de la Bûcherie)

George Whitman opens Le Mistral at 37 rue de la Bûcherie in 1951 — the English-language bookshop that will later carry Beach's shop name.

— shakespeareandcompany.com — history

Worked at · 1951–2011

Shakespeare and Company (Rue de la Bûcherie)

Whitman opened the shop as Le Mistral in 1951 and ran it for sixty years on the rule 'give what you can, take what you need' — living above it until his death at ninety-eight, two days past his birthday, in 2011.

— Krista Halverson (ed.), Shakespeare and Company, Paris: A History of the Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart (2016); shakespeareandcompany.com — history

References

References

The sources below include biographies, scholarly essays, interviews, and primary materials that informed this page. They reflect both the historical record and ongoing critical conversations about George Whitman and their work.

  1. 1shakespeareandcompany.com — history

    Website
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the George Whitman page.

    View source

  2. 2Shakespeare and Company, Paris: A History of the Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart

    Biography
    Shakespeare and Company Paris, 2016
    Used for

    Biographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to George Whitman.

i
Why these sources are here

These references anchor the page in the documented record and in the scholarly conversations around George Whitman. Every claim on this page traces back to one or more of the works listed here.

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