Shakespeare and Company

Sylvia Beach started her imprint Shakespeare and Company in 1921 in order to publish Ulysses (she would issue two other books and one audio recording, all by or about Joyce). In its early days, Shakespeare and Company was primarily a secondhand bookstore and lending library. Beach soon expanded her inventory to feature the latest modernist books and magazines, turning the small shop into a hub for savvy locals, expatriates, and tourists. Joyce met Beach shortly after moving to Paris in June 1920, and he joined the shop’s lending library later that year. The first book he borrowed was apparently The Master Builder by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906).