The Paris home of the lawyer Walter Berry, Edith Wharton's closest friend and literary adviser for forty years — and the man who eventually took over the lease of her apartment on the rue de Varenne.
Walter Van Rensselaer Berry was an international lawyer, and he was the most important person in Edith Wharton's adult life. They met in the 1880s and the friendship lasted until his death in 1927. He read her manuscripts, argued with her about them, and she credited him with a great deal of her development as a writer.
What the relationship was beyond that has been argued over for a century and is not settled. What is clear is its duration and its weight: Wharton was devastated when he died, and she is buried near him at Versailles.
Berry later took over the lease of Wharton's apartment at 53 rue de Varenne, which is a neat illustration of how entangled the two households were.
This record exists because of Berry, not as a Wharton residence. The building is private.
Walter Berry dies; Wharton is left badly shaken.
Wharton dies and is buried near Berry at Versailles.
An international lawyer and Edith Wharton's closest friend and literary adviser for around forty years. He read her manuscripts and later took over the lease of her rue de Varenne apartment.
No. It was Berry's residence. The record is connected to Wharton through him rather than as one of her own homes.
Frequented by
The Paris residence of Walter Berry, Wharton's closest friend and literary adviser, who later took over the lease of her apartment at 53 rue de Varenne. The connection runs through Berry rather than through a Wharton tenancy.
Where Djuna Barnes lived with the sculptor and silverpoint artist Thelma Wood during the 1920s — the relationship that Nightwood was written out of.
Visit the place
The smart restaurant of the quarter — where the hungry Hemingways watched the Joyce family dine, and where F. Scott Fitzgerald asked the question answered in 'A Matter of Measurements.'
Visit the place
The headquarters of Éditions Gallimard, the publishing house that has issued a large share of modern French literature. Albert Camus worked here as director of a collection, and the street itself was renamed after the publisher's founder in 2011.
Visit the place
Christian Zervos's hybrid of art magazine, publishing house and gallery on the rue du Dragon, where Kandinsky showed watercolours in 1935 — and where the Picasso catalogue raisonné was compiled.
Visit the placeThe sources below include histories, archival materials, scholarly research, and official records that informed this page. They document 14 rue Saint-Guillaume, the people connected to it, and its place in Paris.
Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the 14 rue Saint-Guillaume page.
Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the 14 rue Saint-Guillaume page.
Biographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to 14 rue Saint-Guillaume.
Published analysis and historical context used in preparing the 14 rue Saint-Guillaume page.
These references provide the documented foundation for this page's history and context. Claim-level citations remain attached to the specific claims they support.
Explore more resourcesNewsletter
The cafés, studios, and walk-up flats where the work was made — one story from the map in every letter.
