The quay Voltaire

Originally, the quay Voltaire was only the western part of the quay Malaquais. We gave him the name of quay of Théatins after a monastery of théatins had become established there in 1644 by buying, thanks to the generosity of cardinal Jules Mazarin, a house which can shelter approximately twenty five members of a religious order in the location of the current no 23 and no 25 quay Voltaire. The convent was defused in 1790 and demolished in 1822. In 1595 Guillaumede Varic installed a tilery there. In 1791, the quay took the name of quay Voltaire in homage to the writer who died in 1778 in the hotel of the marquess of Villette there.Since Balzac, who places antique dealer's mysterious shop of La Peau de chagrin, the quay Voltaire shelters numerous antique dealers, today rather specialized in the upper upscale segment.
In the beginning of the XIXth century, the first secondhand booksellers of Paris make it their appearance.