Five Unlikely Specialty Bookstores of the Left Bank
Paris is a city of books. In a world where in-person bookstores are dwindling and the appreciation of physical books is waning, Paris maintains a thriving literary scene. Here you can find bookstores with decades of history, hubs for anglophone and foreign language literature, large-scale stores or hole-in-the-wall spaces. Literature is an invaluable and externally-apparent part of French culture, and subsequently Paris has become a Mecca to which students and foreign authors flock. This constant exchange of literary ideas, demand for new works, and appreciation for established books ensures that bookstores remain very much valued and needed. This state of affairs is hopeful, and equally fragile. The following is a list of five bookstores (in no particular order) which specialize in quirky, unexpected, or inspiring subjects, and which may make you wonder "how are they still in business?" or, I hope, "how did I not know about these treasures before now?".
- Librairie des Alpes
If you're looking for a work of literature or art about the France's highest mountain range (and who wouldn't be?), the Librairie des Alpes is where you're sure to find one. Since 1933, this small bookstore has sat tucked in the shadow of the Institut de France, at 6 rue de Seine. The narrow space seems taller than it is wide, with shelves packed with books about every Alps-related subject you could hope for, with a wooden mountain goat or two scaling the papery peaks. The shop includes a small space dedicated to prints, watercolors, and sketches of these monumental mountains, which can also be seen displayed on the bookshelves. The friendly staff might help you discover a fascinating book you didn't even know you were looking for.
2. TASCHEN
At TASCHEN book store you will find a curated collection made up solely of high-end coffee table books. Browsing through the store is a visually satisfying experience; you can feast your eyes on the colorful, intricate, and elegant designs of the book covers. The layout of the store is tasteful and sleek, with rows of long tables and shelves mosaicked with neatly-aligned volumes. The atmosphere inside is reminiscent of an art gallery. Customers stroll in silence, observing the artwork of the covers or rifling through the pages. TASCHEN is a publishing house and its in-person stores sell only their own books. The Paris shop is located at 2 Rue de Buci; the publisher has physical shops in major cities across Europe, as well as Miami and Beverley Hills. You can find books on subjects such as architecture and design, comics, film, art history, pop culture, sport, and photography. Some intriguing titles include "The World's Most Beautiful Libraries", "Shoes A-Z", "Ultimate Collector Watches", "Murals of Tibet", and "Sharks".
3. La Librairie des Femmes
La Librairie des Femmes is a bookstore for feminist literature "by women, for women, and about women". I hesitated to include it in my list of "unlikely" specialty bookstore, because feminist literature should by no means be considered unlikely, niche, or rare. However, the reality that this store is one of only a few others which specialize in this subject is rather telling. (Please check out Violette and Co which specializes in feminist and LGBTQ+ literature, and Majo, a feminist bookstore with an emphasis on manga and comics.) La Librairie des Femmes, located at 35 rue Jacob, was founded in 1974 by Antoinette Fouque, an important member of the Mouvement de Libération des Femmes. One year earlier, Fouque founded the publishing house Editions des Femmes, with the goal of amplifying the voices of feminist literature who otherwise were pushed to the sidelines in male-dominated literary spaces. Since then, the bookstore has carried all works published by Editions des Femmes, as well as countless other novels, essays, biographies, testimonials, poetry volumes, and children's books. The bookstore also serves as a hub for literary events, art showings, and political activism meetings.
4. Librairie des Grands Caractères
The Librairie des Grands Caractères is the only bookstore in Paris dedicated entirely to books for the visually impaired. Located at 6 rue Laplace, this non-traditional bookstore is surrounded by some of the most formidable and long-standing institutions of French academia. There is an intriguing hint of oxymoron in the concept of this bookstore, and a wonderful hopefulness in its inclusivity. Each book is formatted for optimal accessibility for the reader, with large text, high contrast colors, well-spaced out words and letters, and especially opaque paper. The bookstore offers over 1600 titles from sixteen specialized publishing houses, including all that you could expect from a traditional bookshop: novels, classic favorites of literature, biographies, non-fiction works, and a wide range of children's books. Also available in the store is a wide range of reading lamps, book lights, and magnifying glasses. The Grands Caractères website has a toggle to enlarge the text, and offers samples pages to download, with customizable font size. The owner is extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic to answer any questions, but inquire at your own risk.... or be sure that you have a half-hour to spare!
5. Deyrolle
While not strictly a bookstore, Deyrolle deserves an honorable mention for its pure, bizarre eccentricity. Deyrolle is first and foremost a taxidermy shop. As you enter and climb up the creaky spiral staircase, you feel as though you are winding back in time to the workshop of a Victorian era explorer. It is both troubling and morbidly fascinating to behold the silent, glassy-eyed animals: lions, a polar bear, small rodents, birds of prey, and even a camel figure among the creatures who seem to watch you walk between them (not to mention the taciturn shop workers whose eyes follow you as they dust and polish). The Deyrolle collection also includes glass-fronted cabinets of shell and coral displays, and an extensive array of insects and butterflies, some of which have been arranged into breathtaking works of art, framed on the walls. Among these curiosities, bookshelves hold an extensive array of books on all things natural sciences. Their subjects include biology, botany, zoology, ocean sciences, paleontology, mineralogy, anatomy, entomology, and the practice of taxidermy itself. This cabinet of curiosities has been a unique Paris establishment since 1831, and is worth venturing into purely for the surreal experience.
