Picture does not capture this nice print....Very minor age & handling wear (not easily seen in photo)
Timeless landmarks. Cultural treasures. Precious vestiges of a less harried, pre-digital way of life. All of these descriptions can, and have been, applied to the bouquinistes de Paris— the traditional booksellers that have set up shop along key stretches of the Seine River for centuries.
With their iconic metallic awnings in deep green, they have become an essential and beloved part of the Parisian landscape– so much so that they were incorporated into a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, when the banks of the Seine as a whole were given the honor.
According to an article at Paris.fr, the presence of booksellers along the Seine dates to the 16th century, when the precursors to today’s bouquinistes, called colporteurs, sold books, political and religious tracts from baskets carried around the collar (the term “colporteur” literally meaning “collar carriers”). Other, more sedentary vendors sold tomes from trestle tables or on sheets of canvas stretched on the ground. Most initially operated on the few paved roads around the Seine– notably the Quai de Conti, Quai des Grands-Augustins, Quai de Gesvres, and, from the early 17th century, around the newly constructed Pont-Neuf bridge.
In 1649, local booksellers were feeling the competition, and persuaded the government to ban casual book vendors from selling their wares on the Pont Neuf. But by the French Revolution of 1789 and the years that followed, the vendors were thriving along the Seine, acquiring many rare books from the requisitioned or pillaged libraries of aristocratic families and the Catholic church.
By the early 19th century and the advent of the Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte, the bouquinistes as we know them today see the light of day, spreading on the left bank from the Quai Voltaire to the banks around Notre-Dame.
“Bouquiniste” derives from the French word “bouquin”, an informal and familiar term for livre (book) that originally had a mildly pejorative sense– as in a book that was used or of little monetary value. The etymology of “bouquin” is unclear, but some linguists say it derives from the Flemish word “boeckin“, meaning a book of little value.
But it was only in 1859 that the Paris city government allowed the booksellers to establish permanent stands. Each were expected to be built to strict standard measurements. But the sellers had to transport the merchandise back and forth each day.
By the end of the century, the bouquinistes had won the right to store and leave their merchandise in their “boxes” overnight, and in the early 20th century regulations stated that all stands must be painted the same color: “wagon green”, matching the Morris columns and Wallace fountains that now prominently adorned modern Paris.
The bouquinistes‘ stalls and their more than 200 vendors can be found along the banks of the Seine, including on the Right and Left Bank and on the central island known as the Île St-Louis. [Text from "Browsing the Bouquinistes of Paris: Traditional Booksellers on the Seine", by Courtney Traub.]
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A monotone illustration (printed in high quality coated stock) with its original captioned tissue guard covering.
NOTE: Coated paper makes the print surface more susceptible to handling wear, BUT, this wear, if present, is light and disappears if the print is framed behind glass.
Publisher: The Penn Publishing Company, Philadelphia
Publication Date: 1924
Approx size: 10-1/2” X 7-1/2” with original titled tissue cover sheet
Edwards was the former art director of Collier’s magazine, impressionist painter and illustrator for Harper’s Magazine. Edwards studied for a time in France and loved the country that inspired many of his illustrations.
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This is an Original Print - Not a Reproduction
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History-On-Paper |
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Item #1123-470 |