No one and Paris are seen for the first time, but again and again. Reunion is in the novels I have read, in the movies I have seen, in the photos of the past, in the memories of the past, or in the dreams of yesterday. There is no other city in the world that has survived the turmoil of regime change and the ravages of war like Paris, which perfectly explains to the world what is the real trace of time, preserving the long history, ancient architecture, brilliant culture and innate fashion. What's more, it is also a fast-growing, up-to-date capital of business and fashion, so as the capital of France's political, financial and cultural center, Paris has always been able to retain the hurried footsteps of passers-by of all ages, so that they have to stop in front of the familiar major attractions to watch, admire, revel and even linger. Today, let's slow down and go to the second-hand book stalls on the banks of the Seine River together, experience the old and modern of Paris, feel the precipitation and innovation of French culture, and also turn back time, imagine the scene where the "lost generation" Hemingway and other famous celebrities went there to read in the 20s of the 20th century. Readers may be familiar with the history of second-hand book stalls. This is not surprising, since these "green carriages", fixed to the stone railings on the banks of the Seine, have long since become a symbol of Paris. Originating in the late 16th century, itinerant booksellers and booksellers benefited from the development of French cities at the end of the 18th century, when piers made of concrete rose from the ground to the stone railings. They were also officially recognized as second-hand booksellers at the end of the 19th century. Although he was almost expelled from the banks of the Seine, he was fortunate to be preserved for more than 400 years. In February 2019, the second-hand booksellers on the banks of the Seine were inscribed as a collective name in the French Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and since then they have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today, about 240 second-hand booksellers have nearly 1,000 dark green tin boxes (each bookseller usually has four tin boxes, each usually 2 meters long, and the total length cannot exceed 8 meters), which is nearly 3 kilometers long on the left and right banks of the Seine. The left bank starts from the Pont de Tournell and goes all the way to the quay of Voltaire on the Seine; The right bank starts at the Pont Marie and extends to the quay of the Louvre. As I can see from the map I marked with the red line, there are more bookstalls on the left bank south of the Seine, and the "left bank" has long been synonymous with culture and art.
Although the Left Bank and the Right Bank say online that they open at 9 a.m. every day, in reality, most booksellers start at noon and work continuously until about 7 p.m. before closing their stalls. Unless bad weather occurs, the City of Paris requires stall owners to work at least three days a week. This is the scene at 9 a.m. when General Iron locks the door.
When the midday sun shines into the Seine, it's a different story. Starting from the Louvre quay, I walked along the right bank and saw booksellers opening their tin boxes, and the collections of ancient and used books, prints and reproductions, expired newspapers and magazines and posters, colorful badges, beautifully designed postcards and stamps were displayed in a personalized manner.
Artsy paintings on the bookstalls on the right bank
Ancient coins and stamps
The well-known "The Adventures of Tintin" comic seriesSeeing these old magazines, records, posters and comics, including photos of the Queen of England and her husband when she was young, the records and DVDs of the famous French lyricist Edith Piaf, and the comics that carry the memories of several generations, those people, those things, and those golden years in the past, as if vividly, I can't help but think of the "villain book" that accompanied my childhood, and nostalgic emotions arise spontaneously. In the future, don't "break away", because what is "broken" is a good memory that will never return, and what is abandoned is all silver taels that can be realized, and what is left is a precious history. Moving on, I also saw a bookseller who specialized in collecting sports illustrations, such as football and the Tour de France, and Mbappe's expression captured so amazingly, how could his fans miss it?
As long as you have the heart of football and the Tour de France, you will find some books and pictorials about Chinese culture. No, I found a poster from the old movie "Midnight" and a French version of Mr. Barkin's novel "Home".
Left: Poster of the movie "Midnight" Right: The French version of Mr. Barkin's novel "Home" In fact, each bookseller sells carefully selected and unique things, some are mainly historical, travel or pure literary books, some sell sports posters, some belong to the comprehensive category, and so on. Some stall owners are particularly fond of Asian culture, so they focus on the exotique (exotic) card, and "catch all the novels" including Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other countries, whether ancient or modern, original or translated, such as Mr. Lin Yutang's "Wu Zetian", and sometimes the richness of the collection of books on a certain theme is better than that of traditional bookstores. Diversity and individuality are one of the charms of second-hand book stalls. Each bookseller's booth has their number, and the stalls are spaced between them by about one to two meters, making them easy to identify. Some booksellers will take advantage of this valuable space and put up all sorts of old photos or tourist souvenirs for sale. In order to make a living in the age of e-commerce, many booksellers sold souvenirs such as the Eiffel Tower and key rings, and the city of Paris stipulated that at least three of the four tin boxes must be used to sell antique books, and the remaining one can be used to sell souvenirs. Many of today's booksellers come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from part-time and full-time, to hereditary (some of their parents were used booksellers), and most are middle-aged and elderly, as well as young. But they all have one thing in common: a love of freedom and a love of books. A lot of people have been operating here for 10 or 20 years. The books here are mainly in French, so much so that an American girl asked me to translate for her, and I couldn't find an English version of a book about French wines. I couldn't help but ask the booksellers about the origin of the books, and there were two main parts: one was that some citizens inherited the old books of their ancestors and sold them or gave them to the booksellers, so that they could have a second life; The other part is the inventory in the bookstore; Of course, there are also books in the booksellers' homes and books purchased from special suppliers. This large-scale outdoor book collection not only has no sense of disobedience when it appears with heavyweight landscapes such as the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Conciergerie along the way, but also adds a bookish atmosphere and colorful colors to the flowing Seine, which is a veritable visual feast. As a result, visiting second-hand book stalls has become a part of the daily life of many Parisians. However, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the number of tourists from all over the world to Paris has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, although it is the height of the tourist season, so the number of booksellers who open their boxes has only reached 50 to 60 percent of the normal level.
Before I knew it, I had come to the Mary Bridge, where I walked past the famous Île Saint-Louis, and across the Pont de Tourner, the open bookcases on the left bank of the Tourner Pier were already waiting for me. The many bookstalls on the Left Bank are even more culturally viable, and the four stalls of the booksellers are all filled with old books and sets of ancient books with a classical charm. It was another encounter with the masters of French literature, there were no masterpieces that I could not find, only works that I had never read. During this time, I met a well-dressed lady with a badge, who ran a traditional bookstore for nearly 40 years before retiring and setting up a bookstall by the Seine. She knows every book sold. Because it is located in a university area, her old books attract many young college students, and some people come from other provinces to shop in front of her stall. When I was choosing a book, I saw several French people who came to read and buy books after work. It seems that the locals are the main customers of these traditional booksellers. During the pandemic, although she was unable to operate due to a two-month lockdown, more people bought books from her place after the lockdown was lifted. Because everyone loves to read more after free, and because they are afraid of being grounded again, they prepare in advance in case they get bored. This is real "revenge" consumption. Those businesses that rely on selling tourist souvenirs and playing side games have been greatly affected by the epidemic, because without foreign tourists, even if the stalls do not need to pay rent, even if the government has subsidies (the time and amount are not fixed), they still have to survive the difficult two years of making a living. On the third day after the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral on April 15, 2019, before the pandemic, stall owners were surprised to find people from all over the world flocking to second-hand book stalls to buy postcards from Notre Dame, making sales outperform the Eiffel Tower postcard, which was the number one in the history for the first time. "What books do you need?" The old lady of the bookseller in the sunhat asked me. "Do you have a work by Simone de Beauvoir?" I asked her. "Yes!" As she spoke, she skillfully took out seven or eight books. I chose two books, one is the author's award-winning book "Celebrity and Mercier" in France, and the other is the famous "Second Sex", the latter is quite a difficult reading and costs a lot of 45 euros. As for the third book recommended to me by the bookseller, it was the author's final work, and it was all essays, and I wanted to find a reason to refuse, so I casually said: "Generally speaking, the last work of most writers is not very good. "Oh, you're wrong, these articles of hers are short and beautiful, and they record a lot of discussions with Sartre." I was not convinced, but I still preferred "Baume & Mercier". But when I glanced at the thickness of the book, I immediately felt the heaviness of my bags after buying and buying all the way. While hesitating, the old lady thought that I was too expensive and explained: "This is the first edition, so it is a little more expensive, the price is 20 euros, and I will give you a price of 15 euros, what do you think?" Seeing how sincere she was, I gladly accepted. I think she must have understood that antique typography is an irresistible temptation. While giving me change, she continued to explain to me: "This is the first edition, and I still have one at home." Don't think it's thick and heavy, in fact, the paper used for printing at that time was very light, not heavy! "It's hard to find such a warm and professional service in a traditional bookstore, which is another charm of second-hand book stalls.
When the traditional bookstalls on the Left Bank left the bookstalls, it was sunset, and it was time for them to close their stalls. There are still some curiosities and questions in my heart, for example, so a simple tin box, although the wind can't blow away and the rain can't enter, but can it really protect these old books well? I noticed that some stall owners put plastic sheeting and clothes on top of the books when they closed their stalls. It doesn't matter, leave a little doubt as a reason to visit again next time. "Global Bookshop Walk" Invitation Letter
There are Chinese people all over the world, and there are bookstores. How do people there sell books and read books? As a cultural window of the city, what kind of landscape is the bookstore?
Since October 2021, the Shanghai Book Distribution Industry Association has invited many overseas veterans to write a "Global Bookstore Walk", which will be published every Sunday based on the coordinates of the bookstores in the city where they are located.
At present, this column has introduced The American Book Center (The ABC) in Amsterdam, Sydney Bookstore, New York Chinese Bookstore, Hugendubel in Frankfurt, Melbourne Independent Bookstore, Standard Bookstore in Belgium, Barnes & Noble College Bookstore in the United States, Spui Square Book Market in Amsterdam, Indigo Toronto, Independent Bookstore on Charing Cross Street in London, Manchester Bookstore in the UK, Bookstore in Toulouse, The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, The Most Popular Bookstore in Harvard Square in the United States, Centennial Store in Lyon, France, Junkudo Bookstore, the largest bookstore in Tokyo, Elliott Bay Books in Seattle, the largest second-hand book chain in Japan, Scheltema Bookstore in the Netherlands, Bookstore on the shores of Walden, "Cook & Book" in Brussels, Belgium, Dominican bookstores in Maastricht, the Netherlands, used book markets & public bookshelves in libraries in the United States, old bookstores in the medieval city of Bruges in Belgium, Saxony Door Bookstore in Hamburg, Germany, Brusse Gallery Book House in Brussels, Belgium, used book market in Santa Fe Public Library in Santa Fe, USA, Saeed Book Bank in Islamabad, Pakistan, bookstores around Nishi-Ogikuro Station on the JR Chuo Line in Tokyo, Malaysia General Bookstore, Seattle Feeney Bookstore in the United States, Central Bookstore in Voltaire Village in France, etc.
A vision, an atmosphere, a landscape, open a book, and the world becomes interesting......
Readers who are overseas and love to read are welcome to write.
Source: Shanghai Book Fair