Gotham Book Mart Collection

The Gotham Book Mart (1920-2006) was one of Midtown Manhattan’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. The Gotham Book Mart served as a meeting point for the James Joyce Society and the Finnegan's Wake Society. Steloff also published books by well-known Modernists who came to her shop, including Andre Gide and Wallace Stevens.

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. During Brown's tenure that Gotham began to sell authors' archives collections. While Brown was the owner of the Gotham Book Mart, he struck up a relationship with illustrator and writer Edward Gorey. Brown published Gorey's works, and Gorey was also involved in the production of promotional material for the Gotham Book Mart.

When the business closed in 2007, a donor arranged for the transfer of the bookstore's contents to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Organization and cataloging of these materials is ongoing.