THE ABBEY BOOKSHOP, PARIS

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David de Goede: ‘In the narrowest street and in the narrowest building in Paris lies the Abbey Bookshop. A labyrinthine building, run by an erudite, eccentric Canadian.’ By chance, Brian Spence stumbled upon this unusual building in the Latin Quarter: an 18th-century hôtel particulier with the beautiful facade. Here, he decided to open his bookstore. 

The shop is located on rue de la Parcheminerie, originally called rue des Escrivains, named after the scribes and copyists who formed heart of the Parisian book trade until they were replaced by parchment makers in the late Middle Ages. 

With the opening of his Abbey Bookshop, including 40,000 English-language titles, Spence brought the book trade back to the neighborhood in 1989.