If the number of Parisian bookstores has decreased significantly over the past twenty years, historic, atypical or hybrid places keep the art of reading alive. Police departments, youth areas, coffee corner, catering or even coworking, bookstores are reinventing themselves in the capital. A brief overview.
The oldest: Delamain
There’s a little Balzac side to this all-wood and paneled bookstore, whose shelves filled with books go up to the ceiling – with the ladders needed to get there. The oldest bookstore in Paris, it was founded in 1708 under the arcades of the Comédie-Française, at the Palais-Royal. In 1906, a fire forced it to move just opposite, rue Saint-Honoré. With more than 25,000 titles, this highly historic site, now owned by Gallimard, offers current and old books, including first editions from the Gallimard collection. Literature, fine arts, humanities, comics and children’s books make up its repertoire. Note, a wide selection of books devoted to fashion and its history.
Delamain Bookstore155, rue Saint-Honoré, 1is. Such. : 01-42-61-48-78.
The darkest: black love
Lovers of thrillers, dark or fantastic stories, this pocket bookstore will make you happy. For more than twenty years, Bernard Terrades and now Olivier Ancel have brought this atypical place to life, with 18,000 references, all second-hand, wisely lined up. We unearth the books of the heavyweights of the genre such as the Icelandic Arnaldur Indridason or the Swede Henning Mankell, but also nuggets such as the works of the English writer James Hadley Chase, king of the dark novel, and those of Pierre Bordage, leading science fiction author. The establishment also offers copies of Cinema notebooks as well as specialized fanzines. Do not hesitate either to rely on the good advice of the bookseller.
black love11, rue du Cardinal-Lemoine, 5e. Such. : 01-43-29-25-66.
The most poetic: Tram
It is just behind the Pantheon that the Tram café-bookstore is nestled. The most attentive – and addicted to the series – may have spotted it in season 2 ofEmily in Paris. Inaugurated in 2021 by Paul Hyatt and Marion Trama, who were already at the head of the Trama café on rue du Cherche-Midi, the Tram café offers what Anglo-Saxon countries have been developing for a long time: a hybrid place between a neighborhood bookstore and a café- cozy restaurant. On the book side, there are more than 4,500 references: generalist titles, a youth space as well as a small selection of works in English and focused on Paris, a tourist district. In the kitchen, the tasty croque-monsieur, the seasonal chestnut soup or the homemade pastries are eye-catching. Note that computers are prohibited in the afternoon, conviviality remaining in order.
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