Sylvia was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 14, 1887, in Nancy Woodbridge Beach, after her grandmother. She later adopted her preferred name as a teenager. Raised in New Jersey, Sylvia was the middle sister of three and descended from a long line of generations of clergypersons. Her father, Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge, went to Princeton, and Rev. was a pastor at First Presbyterian Church. “Princeton, with its trees and birds, is more a leafy, flowery park than a town, and the Beach family considered itself lucky,” Sylvia wrote in her 1959 memoir. Sylvia’s mother, Eleanor Orbison, was born to missionaries in India and later moved to Pennsylvania, eventually meeting and marrying her Latin teacher and–Reverend Beach. Beach generally kept to herself, was quiet, and had little formal schooling but learned to speak French, Spanish, and Italian–fascinated by the European culture.

In 1901 the family moved to France upon Sylvester Beach’s new position as Assistant Minister of the American Church in Paris and the Director of the American Student Center, where the family lived until 1906.

As a teen, Sylvia fell in love with the city, but eventually the family returned to New Jersey where her father became the minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton. She made several return trips to Europe, lived in Spain for two years and worked for the Balkan Commission of the Red Cross. Eventually returning back to Paris to study contemporary French Literature.

In Sylvia’s research at the Bibliotheque Nationale, the National Library of France, she read about the extensive lending library and bookshop–La Maison des Amis des Livres in rue de l’Odéon in Paris. Here, she was welcomed by the owner, Adrienne Monnier, who focused on modern literature and founded the first lending library in all of France. Beach immediately connected with Monnier and became a member of her lending library, meeting authors and attending readings. The membership helped Beach become inspired by the literary life of the Left Bank of Paris–the central hub for writers and artists during the early 20th century, and Monnier’s bookstore was a focal part of this scene promoting innovative writing.
Sylvia dreamed of starting a branch of Monnier’s bookshop in New York that would offer contemporary French works to American readers. Monnier became Sylvia’s mentor, friend and eventually lover. She decided they couldn’t afford such a venture in the United States, but with rent in Paris being cheaper than the U.S. and Monnier’s help, Sylvia opened an English language bookstore and lending library called Shakespeare and Company.

In July 1920, Beach met James Joyce, who had become a regular subscriber to her lending library; he was trying to publish his greatest work, Ulysses, with no success. Sylvia offered to edit and publish it and, with her extensive network, was able to smuggle the book into the US, Canada, and England through private buyers as it was considered erotica but flourished with her unwavering support. With its beginning success, favorable exchange rate, great timing, and unwavering support of her favorite writers, Sylvia quickly outgrew her space and, in 1921, moved to a larger storefront just across the street from Monnier. Sylvia specialized in selling books published in Great Britain and the United States and became the central focus for a generation of American, French, and British writers in Paris, including Earnest Hemmingway, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, F. Scott Fitgerald, and many more. Beach offered hospitality, encouragement, and books for the literary talent of the time and even helped fund their efforts with loans, being their main point of contact, and even staying in one of her rooms above the shop until they were settled.

Joyce spent Sylvia’s loans and utilized all of her time and resources without consideration. However, Sylvia fervently believed in Joyce and the quality of Ulysses, so she went bankrupt publishing the book for him. This undying loyalty proved exclusively beneficial to Joyce, and after 10 years of dedication, Joyce betrayed Sylvia and sold the publishing rights of Ulysses to another publisher, which left Beach financially stranded. In reflection, Sylvia felt it was for the best as she no longer could manage the workload and her shop’s needs in tandem.

In the 1930s, there was a mass exodus of Americans from Paris, and sales dropped until Andre Gide stepped in and persuaded their literary friends of the Left Bank to subscribe as Friends of Shakespeare and Company, paying an annual membership fee. They even rallied behind Beach by asking the French government to subsidize the bookstore, and authors like T.S. Eliot and Paul Valéry held benefit readings to raise money to keep Shakespeare and Company afloat. Sylvia was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France, for her work in nurturing writers and publishing great works of literature. She considered it one of her highest honors and even wore her ribbon proudly, at great risk, after the Germans occupied her beloved adopted homeland.

Paris was occupied in 1939, but Monnier and Beach remained, enduring cold winters, fuel shortages, food rations, blackouts, and censorships. On one occasion, Sylvia refused to sell a Nazi officer a book, he returned, and Sylvia enlisted her friends to move and store all her beloved books, dismantle everything, and even paint over the sign. Shortly after, she was taken to an internment camp in the first round-up of American women. Then, she was moved to another camp in Vittel, France, where she stayed until 1943. She eventually was able to return to Adrienne and their apartment, which was full of hidden books above Monnier’s shop. When the war finally ended in 1944, her old friend Earnest Hemmingway ran through the cobblestone streets shouting “Sylvia,” where they eventually re-united, but despite the liberation, the bookstore never re-opened.

Monnier was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, affecting her balance and suffering from delusions. After 36 years of becoming lovers and living together, in 1955, she committed suicide. In 1956, Beach wrote Shakespeare and Company, a memoir of the inter-war years that details the cultural life of Paris at the time, featuring first-hand observations of her beloved authors and vibrant Paris literary scene, becoming known as the author of the “Lost Generation.”

James Joyce’s legal battles and notoriety were finally recognized, and he found a way to acknowledge Sylvia’s contribution by paying homage by writing small character roles for her and her sister and mother into Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake as well as slowly paying back his borrowed sums over the years. She was awarded accolades from her peers, publishers, and writers and even found new companionship with Camilla Steinbrugge. In June 1962, she opened the Martello Tower in Sandycove in Dublin (where the opening scene of Ulysses is set) as a museum. She remained in Paris until her death in 1962 and was buried in Princeton Cemetery. Her papers are archived at Princeton University.
American George Whitman opened a new bookshop originally called Le Mistral but renamed Shakespeare and Company in 1964 in honor of the late Sylvia Beach. Since his death in 2011, it has been run by his daughter Sylvia Whitman.