Sylvia Beach

Sylvia Beach (March 14 1887–October 5 1962), born Nancy Woodbridge Beach in her father's parsonage in Baltimore, Maryland, was one of the leading expatriate figures in Paris between World War I and II.

Related Topics:
March 14 - 1887 - October 5 - 1962 - Baltimore, Maryland - Paris - World War I - II

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Her father was a Presbyterian pastor and his work took the family to Paris in 1901. Beach loved Paris, and went to live there permanently in 1916 after war work nursing. With her friend Adrienne Monnier she founded a bookshop, Shakespeare and Company, in November 1919, which became a focus for Americans. The bookshop became famous after it published James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922, as a result of Joyce's inability to get an edition out in English-speaking countries.

Related Topics:
Presbyterian - 1901 - 1916 - Adrienne Monnier - Bookshop - Shakespeare and Company - 1919 - America - James Joyce - Ulysses - 1922

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The bookshop was in difficulties throughout the depression of the 1930s, and was kept afloat by the generosity of her circle of friends, including Bryher. She was interned during World War II. The shop was symbolically liberated by Ernest Hemingway in person in 1944 but never re-opened.

Related Topics:
1930s - Bryher - World War II - Ernest Hemingway - 1944

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A new bookshop founded in the 1950s by American George Whitman (no relations to the poet) was granted permission by Sylvia Beach to use the name "Shakespeare & Company". It had a rocky history. Whitman did not register or pay taxes for many years. He was—like many other artists in trouble with Internal Revenue—saved by André Malraux.

Related Topics:
1950s - George Whitman - André Malraux

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In 1956, Beach wrote a memoir of the inter-war years, titled Shakespeare and Company, which details the cultural life of Paris at the time. The book contains first-hand observations of D.H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Valery Larbaud, Thornton Wilder, André Gide, Leon-Paul Fargue, George Antheil, Robert McAlmon, Gertrude Stein, Stephen Benet, Aleister Crowley, John Quinn, Berenice Abbott, Man Ray, and many others.

Related Topics:
1956 - D.H. Lawrence - Ernest Hemingway - Ezra Pound - T. S. Eliot - Valery Larbaud - Thornton Wilder - André Gide - Leon-Paul Fargue - George Antheil - Robert McAlmon - Gertrude Stein - Stephen Benet - Aleister Crowley - John Quinn - Berenice Abbott - Man Ray

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Beach remained in Paris until her death.

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