Gibert Joseph, a bookshop on boulevard Saint-Michel since 1886

Gibert Joseph began in 1886 on boulevard Saint-Michel, when Joseph Gibert, a former teacher of classics in Saint-Étienne and a bookseller on the parapet of quai Saint-Michel, opened a shop for second-hand school books.

The business thrived just as Jules Ferry made schooling free and compulsory. The founder’s two sons succeeded him in 1915. In 1929 the elder, Joseph, opened his own bookshop at number 30 on the boulevard, while his younger brother Régis kept the original shop under the name Gibert Jeune.

Gibert Joseph spread through the Latin Quarter and across France, added records, videos and stationery, and in 1996 opened a record shop at number 34. In 2017 it took over Gibert Jeune, reuniting the two branches of the family after 88 years apart.

On boulevard Saint-Michel, the house still sells new and second-hand books, records and stationery, and buys back books, records and films from the public. Second-hand books make up more than a third of its business, as in the founder’s day.