Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1025

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

79 linear feet (95 boxes)

Preferred Citation:

Gotham Book Mart records, 1723-2006 (bulk: 1967-2006), Ms. Coll. 1025, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1723-2006 (inclusive) and 1967-2006 (bulk)

Creator:

Gotham Book Mart

Form:

Memorabilia, Audiovisual materials, Scrapbooks, Manuscripts (documents), Broadsides (notices), Sales records, Photograph albums, Correspondence, Legal documents, Business records, Genealogies (histories), Postcards, Photographic postcards, Photographs, and Cabinet photographs

Abstract:

The Gotham Book Mart (1920-2006) was one of New York City's most iconic bookstores during the 20th century. Founded by Frances Steloff (1887-1989), the daughter of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants, the Book Mart became a social center for the New York literati and a focal point for literary modernism in the United States. Steloff's successor, independent literary manuscript dealer Andreas Brown (1933-), maintained the store's focus on avant garde and small press publications while incorporating his own interests in postcards and genealogy. This collection contains 91 boxes of material relating to the daily operation of the Book Mart; correspondence, biographical, and legal material from both Brown and Steloff; postcard and genealogical material collected by Brown; photographs of the store, its employees, and events which took place there; and manuscripts and ephemera offered for sale.

Founded in 1920 by Frances Steloff, The Gotham Book Mart served as a center for the literary avant garde of New York City and a gateway through which European modernism entered the United States. During its nearly ninety-year tenure as a marketplace for books and ideas, the Gotham was notorious for selling books which were officially banned in the U.S., including Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer. In addition, the shop served as an unofficial literary salon, attracting luminaries such as Christopher Morley, Henry Miller, W.H. Auden , Marianne Moore, Tennessee Williams, John Updike, and Allen Ginsberg (who briefly worked in the store as a clerk). It also served as the home of the James Joyce Society, founded at the Book Mart in 1947. In 1967, Stelof sold the store to Andreas Brown, who continued its literary mission while incorporating his own collecting interests, such as a postcards and antique Christmas ornaments. For most of its life, the Book Mart was located in a building at 41 W. 47th Street, in Manhattan's Diamond District. After a series of legal battles regarding loans undertaken to buy the building, Brown was forced to sell the original location and lease a building at 16 E. 46th St. After falling behind on the rent at this new location, Brown was evicted, and the inventory was sold by auction.

Frances Steloff was the founder of the Gotham Book Mart and a tireless advocate for avant garde literature. Born in poverty to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1887, at thirteen she was orphaned and forced to leave school. Adopted by an elderly Boston couple, her life did not improve, and at the age of nineteen she left Boston for New York City, where she worked in the book departments of various department stores before opening the Gotham in 1920. She was one of the founders of the James Joyce Society, and her list of friends comprised a large majority of the American literati of the 20th century. She was also deeply interested in non-Western spiritual practices, including the work of J. Krishnamurti. After selling the Book Mart to Andreas Brown in 1967, Steloff continued to live in an apartment on the third floor, and to work intermittently in the shop itself. She died in 1989 at the age of 101.

Andreas Brown is a rare-book dealer, literary appraiser, and omnivorous collector of Americana who owned and operated the Gotham Book Mart from 1967 to its dissolution in 2007. Born in Coronado, CA, Brown graduated from San Diego State University and attended Stanford Law School before working at the Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas and beginning an independent career as a rare book dealer. During trips to New York City, Brown became acquainted with Frances Steloff, and in 1967 he bought the Gotham Book Mart, with the understanding that Steloff would continue to be active in its operation. During his stewardship of the Book Mart, Brown became one of the most prominent American collectors of vintage postcards, curated an annual exhibition of antique Christmas ornaments, and was instrumental in promoting the career of writer/illustrator Edward Gorey. He also undertook extensive research into the genealogy of his and Frances Steloff's families. However, numerous legal battles, both with fellow booksellers over delinquent payments and with wealthy benefactors over loans accrued to buy the building which housed the Gotham, contributed to the Book Mart's worsening financial situation and eventual closure.

This collection contains store records, correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera from the Gotham Book Mart, one of New York City's most iconic bookstores and a hotbed of 20th century literary modernism and American little magazine and small press publishing. It includes records of the day-to-day activity of bookselling during the ownership of Frances Steloff and her successor Andreas Brown, as well as manuscripts and ephemera which the store offered for sale, broadsides, scrapbooks, and vintage photographs. In addition, the collection contains material from Brown's personal collections, including literary appraisals, postcards, and genealogical research. For further detail, see the content notes accompanying each series in the finding aid.