Sylvia Beach, born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and II.
18 Facts About Sylvia Beach
2.
Sylvia Beach is known for her Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, where she published James Joyce's book, Ulysses, and encouraged the publication of and sold copies of Hemingway's first book, Three Stories and Ten Poems.
3.
Sylvia Beach had an older sister, Holly, and a younger sister, Cyprian.
4.
Sylvia Beach made several return trips to Europe, lived for two years in Spain, and worked for the Balkan Commission of the Red Cross.
5.
Sylvia Beach was in gray and white like her bookshop.
6.
Sylvia Beach immediately became a member of Monnier's lending library, where she regularly attended readings by authors such as Andre Gide, Paul Valery and Jules Romains.
7.
However, Paris rents were much cheaper and the exchange rates favorable, so with Monnier's help, Sylvia Beach opened an English language bookstore and lending library that she named Shakespeare and Company.
8.
Sylvia Beach's bookstore was located at 8 rue Dupuytren, Paris VI.
9.
Shakespeare and Company quickly attracted both French and American readers, including aspiring writers to whom Sylvia Beach offered hospitality and encouragement as well as books.
10.
In July 1920, Sylvia Beach met Irish writer James Joyce at a dinner party hosted by French poet Andre Spire.
11.
Joyce had been trying, unsuccessfully, to publish his manuscript for his masterpiece, Ulysses, and Sylvia Beach, seeing his frustration, offered to publish it.
12.
In 1936 when Sylvia Beach thought that she would be forced to close her shop, Andre Gide organized a group of writers into a club called Friends of Shakespeare and Company.
13.
Sylvia Beach recalled that by then, "we were so glorious with all these famous writers and all the press we received that we began to do very well in business".
14.
Shakespeare and Company remained open after the Fall of Paris, but by the end of 1941, Sylvia Beach was forced to close.
15.
Sylvia Beach was interned for six months during World War II at Vittel until Tudor Wilkinson managed to secure her release in February 1942.
16.
Sylvia Beach kept her books hidden in a vacant apartment upstairs at 12 rue de l'Odeon.
17.
In 1956, Sylvia Beach wrote Shakespeare and Company, a memoir of the inter-war years that details the cultural life of Paris at the time.
18.
Sylvia Beach remained in Paris until her death in 1962, and was buried in Princeton Cemetery.