Shakespeare and Company
Portrait of a Bookstore
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"I created this bookstore like a man would write a novel, building each room like a chapter, and I like people to open the door the way they open a book, a book that leads into a magic world in their imaginations."—
George Whitman
Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookshop in the heart of Paris, on the banks of the Seine, opposite Notre-Dame. Since opening in 1951, it’s been a meeting place for anglophone writers and readers, becoming a Left Bank literary institution.credit: ©Shakespeare and Company ParisIt quickly became a center for expat literary life in Paris. Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin, Richard Wright, William Styron, Julio Cortázar, Henry Miller, William Saroyan, Lawrence Durrell, James Jones, and James Baldwin were among early visitors to the shop.
From the first day the store opened, writers, artists, and intellectuals were invited to sleep among the shop’s shelves and piles of books, on small beds that doubled as benches during the day. These guests are called Tumbleweeds after the rolling thistles that “drift in and out with the winds of chance,” as George described. A sense of community and commune was very important to him—he referred to his shop as a “socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore.”
My bed in the Reading Room, back in 2015Three things are asked of each Tumbleweed: read a book a day, help at the shop for a few hours a day, and produce a one-page autobiography.
Tumbleweeding in 2015
One fine morning, I received a call from Shakespeare and Co. They wanted me to create a tunnel book dedicated to the bookstore. A miniature, a dollhouse that could capture the atmosphere you feel when entering.
The first thing I did was to conduct an inspection, as renovation works had been done in the meantime.
Now the bookstore is larger, and the spaces interact with each other differently than I remembered.
What to include and what to leave out?
I divided the rooms into levels, like theatrical backdrops. Each level of the ground floor with the bookstore corresponds to one on the upper floor with the library and the piano room.
In some cases, it was necessary to distort the proportions to ensure that the perspectives were aligned.
How can one represent such an iconic and multilayered place?
Should the drawings be more descriptive, capturing every detail, or more evocative, conveying the essence and atmosphere? How can it encapsulate the stories and experiences of all those who have passed through it, myself included?
What narrative does this book unfold? Is it a journey through time, a glimpse into the lives that intertwined within these spaces, or a reflection of the ever-changing nature of the place itself? The challenge lies in balancing precision with emotion, in finding a way to tell a story that is both personal and universal. This book seeks to capture not just the physical structure, but the soul of the place, the memories embedded in its walls, and the sense of continuity amid change.
Storefront sketchInteriors studies
Interiors sketchLayers sketch
Final sketches
The structure is built with Materica Fedrigoni 360-gram paper. The sequential planes create a distorted perspective of the spaces.
It was also necessary for the interiors to be visible from both the front and the back, much like a dollhouse. This feature marks a significant departure from the other tunnel books I had created previously.Paper model, front view
The six levels are connected by a paper accordion, assembled without any glue, thanks to an ingenious (thank you Archivio Tipografico) papercraft technique.
Interiors, detailPaper model, back view
So may colors, so little space.
The printing phase required extensive work on the colors and was divided into two parts: for the outer sleeve, the case, I decided to print in letterpress, using 4 bright colors to convey the idea that the bookstore represents a reference point for many. Offset printing
Letterpress sleeveThe internal pages, on the other hand, were printed in offset to allow for more freedom with color gradients.
Printing layers
Photo: Archivio Tipografico Torino
Interiors, detailHello there
For many years now, visitors have been able to leave a message on the bulletin board on the first floor.
Rather than reproducing the board, I created a secret blank space in the book, where one can leave a message or a dedication.
If you want, you can leave your own words on this wall.Photo: Umberto CostamagnaPhoto: Umberto CostamagnaPhoto: Umberto Costamagna
Daniele Catalli
Shakespeare and Company Tunnel Book
paper engineer: Daniele Catalli & Archivio Tipografico
6 pages + sleeve
Dimensions: 162 X 220 X 20 mm
Printed and cut on Fedrigoni Paper
Letterpress + Offset
Torino 2024
Agent: Daniela Bonerba
Printer: Archivio Tipografico
Pop-up Books
Tunnel Books
