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December 12, 2016

2899, 2900 FRANCE (Île-de-France) - Bouquinistes on the banks of the Seine - part of Paris, Banks of the Seine (UNESCO WHS)

2899 Bouquinistes on the banks of the Seine,
with Notre Dame de Paris in background

The Bouquinistes of Paris are booksellers of used and antiquarian books who ply their trade along large sections of the banks of the Seine: on the right bank from the Pont Marie to the Quai du Louvre, and on the left bank from the Quai de la Tournelle to Quai Voltaire. The Seine is thus described as "the only river in the world that runs between two bookshelves". This tradition began around the 16th century with little market peddlers. Under pressure from booksellers, a settlement of 1649 prohibited stalls and the display of books on the Pont Neuf.

2900 Bouquinistes on Tournelle Quai,
with Notre Dame de Paris in background
 

The traditional emblem of the second-hand booksellers is "a lizard looking at a sword" In 1859, concessions were implemented by the city of Paris and the bouquinistes are permitted to be established at fixed points. The openings are from sunrise to sunset. Finally, in 1930 the dimensions of the boxes were fixed. Installed along more than three kilometres of the Seine, the 240 bouquinistes make use of 900 green boxes to house some 300,000 old books and a very great number of journals, stamps and trading cards.

Bouquinistes on the banks of the Seine are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Paris, Banks of the Seine, about which I wrote here.  


About the stamps
On the postcard 2899


The stamps are part of the series "The pleasure of writing" seen by 12 authors of comics, issued on October 25,1993. All 12 stamps are the same face value (2.80 FRF).
• "Happy Birthday" by Claire Wendling
"Happy Birthday" by Bernard Olivié
"Happy Birthday" by Stéphane Colman
"Happy Birthday" by Guillaume Sorel
"With Flame" by Jean-Michel Thiriet
"Pleasure to write" by Etienne Davodeau
"Congratulations" by Johan de Moor
"Good luck" by P. de Mezembourg (Mezzo) - It's on the postcard 2899
"Best wishes" by Nicolas de Crécy"Best wishes" by Florence Magnin - It's on the postcard 2899"Merry Christmas" by Thierry Robin"Merry Christmas" by Patrick Prugne - It's on the postcard 2899

On the postcard 2900
The first stamp is part of a serie depicting tapisteries, about which I wrote here. The second stamp is one of the two of the series Salon of stamps, about which I wrote here. About the last stamp I wrote here.

References
Bouquinistes - Wikipedia
Bouquinistes - Travel France

Sender 2899, 2900: Jean Yves Gerlat
Sent from Montbonnot-Saint-Martin (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes / France), on 07.12.2016

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