Michel Lévy

Born in Phalsbourg, he was the son of a colporteur (a peddler of printed publications).

In 1836, aged fifteen, he opened a reading cabinet and a "theatrical library" in Paris, rue Marie-Stuart, under the name Michel Lévy frères, but at first acting alone.

Financial success allowed him to open a grand book-store at rue Auber.

The Lévy brothers published most of the important French authors of the second half of the 19th century, including Dumas, Balzac, Hugo, Sand, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Stendhal, and Nerval.

The brothers also entered the flourishing periodical market, publishing magazines such as L'Entracte, L'Univers illustré, Le Journal du jeudi and Le Journal du dimanche.