Gotham Book Mart:
An Inventory of Its Records at the Harry Ransom Center
Creator: | Gotham Book Mart | |
Title: | Gotham Book Mart Records | |
Dates: | 1936-2004, undated (bulk 1965-1976) | |
Extent: | 48 document boxes (20.16 linear feet), 9 oversize boxes (osb), 1 oversize folder (osf), 1 galley file (gf); 55 oversize boxes (osb) stored offsite | |
Abstract: | The business records of the iconic independent bookstore Gotham Book Mart which operated in New York City from 1920 to 2007 comprise correspondence, routine business documents, financial records, and some records of the James Joyce Society, which was founded at Gotham Book Mart. | |
Call Number: | Manuscript Collection MS-1670 | |
Language: | Predominately English, but also some correspondence in French, German, Italian, Portuguese |
Access: | Open for research. Part or all of this collection is housed off-site and may require up to three business days' notice for access in the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting this material: reference@hrc.utexas.edu |
Administrative Information
Acquisition: | Purchases and Gifts, 1978-2006 (G181, R7710, R8272, R8528, R11808, R11823, R12082, R12239, R12249, G12426) | |
Processed by: | Amy E. Armstrong, 2014 |
Repository: |
Historical Note
For eighty-seven years, since its founding in 1920 by Frances Steloff, Gotham Book Mart (GBM) served not only a store where one could purchase new, second-hand, and rare books, but also as one of the principal literary salons in New York City and was "a force that helped shape modern literature." Gotham was perhaps the only place where a customer could purchase a banned book that had been smuggled into the country in the the 1930s and the 1940s, donate money to struggling writers, and bump into regular customers such as H. L. Mencken, Eugene O'Neill, J. D. Salinger, Charles Chaplin, John Updike, and Edward Albee. | ||
Frances Ida Steloff, born on December 31, 1887 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to Russian immigrants, had a difficult childhood. Extreme poverty, the death of her mother at age three, a cruel stepmother, and the forced abolishment of her formal education to help care for her siblings led Steloff to leave home at age twelve and move in with a prosperous Roxbury, Massachusetts family she had met while selling floral bouquets to wealthy vacationers in Saratoga Springs. Ultimately, the arrangement proved unsuccessful and Steloff moved permanently to New York City in 1907. Steloff's introduction to rare books came while working as a clerk at Frederick Loeser's Department Store. There she met George Mischke, head of the rare books department, where she later transferred departments to work. Between 1909 and 1919, Steloff learned the book trade working in various New York bookstores, including Bretano's. | ||
In mid-December 1919, Steloff spotted a one-room basement storefront for rent in the heart of the theatre district. Inspired by the Sunwise Turn bookshop owned by Mary Mobray Clark and Madge Jennison, Steloff explored the idea of opening her own bookstore. After seeking advice from her old mentor George Mischke, Brentano co-worker (and future husband) David Moss, and Rockwell Kent, she decided to rent the $75 a month space. On January 1, 1920, Gotham Art and Book Mart opened at 128 West 45th Street. The inventory consisted of 175 personal volumes, many of which Steloff had received as gifts. | ||
Gotham's customers, eventually including among them Martha Graham, Ina Claire, and R. H. Burnside, influenced the books that Steloff stocked. Since these customers were often associated with or were patrons of the theatre, it became known for its inventory of theater and art books--many imported from Europe--as well as its extensive mail-order business and its ability to acquire rare and out-of-print books. | ||
On June 17, 1923, Steloff married David Moss, whom she had met while working at Brentano's. The couple honeymooned while on a book-purchasing tour of Europe. With the books the couple purchased abroad, Gotham was beginning to outgrow its space. In addition, Gothams building was slated for demolition in order to make room for the Knickerbocker Hotel. On October 6 1923, Steloff moved the store to its second location at 51 West 47th Street. Its famous cast-iron sign, designed by John Held, Jr., depicting three men fishing and Steloff's phrase "Wise Men Fish Here," was hung outside, and she dropped "Art" from the name of the store, becoming simply Gotham Book Mart. | ||
Thanks to the larger retail space, GBM began to stock more magazines; in particular, the "little magazines" that printed experimental works that were not considered profitable by larger presses, and had an entire table devoted to their display. Gotham became known for carrying such avant-garde titles as Horizon, This Quarter, transition, Criterion, and Story, which featured the writings of then-unknown talents like William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, D. H. Lawrence, and E. E. Cummings. GBM not only promoted such publications through its stock and advertising, it also served as agent for many struggling magazines and subsidized the cost of printing. | ||
During the mid-1920s, GBM began hosting lectures in the yard behind the store. Samuel Putnam delivered lectures and hosted speakers on literary, cultural, and political topics. Eventually, the lectures turned into readings and parties, and Gotham became as much known for its garden parties as for its literary inventory. Famous honorees at GBM included Dylan Thomas, Christopher Morley, Kenneth Patchen, Katherine Anne Porter, W. H. Auden, Lawrence Durrell, William Carols Williams, Anaïs Nin, and Marianne Moore. Perhaps the most well-known party was hosted by Steloff for Dame Edith and Sir Osbert Sitwell during their American tour. Life magazine covered the party, held November 9, 1947, and it was attended by many literary and cultural celebrities including W. H. Auden, William Rose Benét, Elizabeth Bishop, Charles Henri Ford, Marianne Moore, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, and Stephen Spender. | ||
Between 1928 and 1946, Steloff and GBM became a frequent target of John S. Sumner's New York Society for the Prevention of Vice because it stocked books accused of being obscene, including James Joyce's Ulysses (which Steloff had smuggled into the country in segments and then reassembled). In 1932, Steloff became involved in a long legal battle after Sumner became aware of a Gotham Book Mart catalog which listed for sale Chin P'ing Mei: the Adventures of Hai Men Shing and His Sixteen Wives and From a Turkish Harem. Steloff was represented by Morris Ernst and the case was later dismissed. In 1935, Steloff was arrested for selling André Gide's If It Die, but thanks in part to help from the book's publisher, Bennett Cerf, she was later acquitted. In 1946, Steloff was once again approached by Sumner and told that the GBM window display created by Marcel Duchamp and André Breton for Breton's latest book Arcane 17was obscene. Steloff responded by covering the "offensive" parts with Sumner's business card to which Steloff added the word "CENSORED." | ||
In 1940, Gotham Book Mart published the We Moderns catalog in celebration of its twentieth anniversary. Based on GBM's "The Book-Collectors Odyssey" catalog style and format in which authors were introduced with a brief bio (began in 1938), We Moderns included the avant-garde writing about the avant-garde and contributors included John Dos Passos, Carl Van Vechten, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound. | ||
In 1946, Gotham Book Mart lost its lease and moved down the street to 41 West 47th Street. Under very generous circumstances and thanks in part to her friend Christopher Morley, Steloff purchased the new location, a five-story brownstone building, from Columbia University for $65,000. | ||
Steloff managed Gotham Book Mart fastidiously and rarely left the shop. She lived above it in a third floor apartment, which allowed her to work very early and very late. In the early days, she was often the only employee and completed all tasks personally from serving customers, cleaning the store, stocking, wrapping packages, and bookkeeping. The store was literally her life and she expected a lot from her employees; however, Steloff was incredibly generous and supportive of struggling writers. She frequently hired writers as clerks including Allen Ginsberg, Tennessee Williams, and Amiri Baraka. Steloff often loaned and sent money to writers; helping Henry Miller on several occasions, cosigning a loan for Martha Graham when Graham was putting together her first solo concert, and lent money so Anaïs Nin could purchase a printing press in order to print editions of her Winter of Artifice. Steloff frequently purchased remaindered books, including her friend Marianne Moore's Selected Poems, and often couldn't return her author-friend's books to publishers. While this was usually done for altruistic reasons, it also grew the stock, as well as the later value of such volumes. Indeed, only a fraction of the stock was ever accessible to the public. Much of it was stored in the basement and off-site. Shelves were double stacked and boxes upon boxes often blocked access to the books. | ||
Gotham Book Mart long held an important relationship with Irish writer James Joyce. In 1939, Joyce published Finnegan's Wake, a version of which had been previously published serially in transition as Joyce's "Work in Progress." In celebration, Gotham had a proper wake for Finnegan, which was covered by, but ultimately not published in Life. Pastimes of James Joyce by Madame Jolas was the first book published by the Joyce Memorial Fund Committee and distributed by GBM in 1941. Gotham was well-known for stocking a large inventory of Joyce publications and Professor William York Tindall of Columbia University, who taught the first seminar on Joyce, frequently sent his students to GBM to purchase Joyce texts. Tindall's students often asked questions about Joyce's writing which Steloff was unable to answer, so she set about trying to form a Joyce study group. In February 1947, many Joyce scholars met to plan what would become the James Joyce Society. John Slocum served as the first president, Roland von Weber was the first secretary, and Steloff became the first treasurer; a post that was originally to be temporary, but a role she served for several decades. The James Joyce Society had its first official meeting at GBM in June 1947. Many distinguished scholars, performers, and authors have addressed the society throughout the decades, and many of the meetings were recorded, including recordings made by Folkways. | ||
On the eve of her eightieth birthday, Steloff decided to sell Gotham Book Mart. In December 1967, San Francisco-based book collector, bibliographer, literary appraiser, and regular Gotham Book Mart customer Andreas Brown purchased the store for $125,000. Included in the sale was the book stock of about 500,000 volumes, as well as Steloff in the role of "consultant." | ||
Andreas Brown was born in Coronado, California in 1933. From a very young age, he began collecting books and became acquainted with the book sellers in the San Diego area, as well as in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1955, Brown graduated from San Diego State University and received a scholarship to Stanford Law School. He attended through his third year, but left before graduation to serve in the U. S. Army's Judge Advocate General Corp. After leaving the Army, Brown taught in the speech department at San Diego State University between 1960 and 1963. | ||
In 1963, Brown received a two-year fellowship as Scholar in Residence at the Humanities Research Center (now the Harry Ransom Center) at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon conclusion of the fellowship, Brown began independent research under Dr. Donald Clifford Gallup at Yale University. In 1965, Brown returned to California and started a business appraising rare books and manuscripts; often for prominent special collections such as Harvard University and the Bancroft Library. Brown was also a regular customer of Gotham Book Mart and made many visits to the store on his frequent visits to New York City. In 1967, while on a business trip to New York, Steloff approached Brown and offered to sell GBM to him. Steloff explained that she was near eighty and many clients were concerned about the future of the store. After some deliberation, Brown agreed. Steloff famously told Brown at the conclusion of the sale, "You are not the owner. You're the caretaker, the custodian." | ||
Though the character of the shop did not change, perhaps except for the installation of air conditioning, the emphasis expanded into increased sales of rare and out-of-print books, as well as the sale of literary and artist archives. Beginning in 1967, the University of Texas at Austin purchased many cornerstone items and collections for the Humanities Research Center (now the Harry Ransom Center) from Brown including the papers of Daisy Aldan, Samuel Beckett, Carol Berge, Paul and Jane Bowles, Gregory Corso, E. E. Cummings, Morris Ernst, Allen Ginsberg, Henry Miller, Peter Owen Ltd., James Purdy, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Tennessee Williams. | ||
A gallery space opened on the second floor which held art exhibitions for artists who could not afford shows in the more commercial New York galleries; though the first show was made up of watercolors and drawings by E. E. Cummings. Brown is also credited with launching the career of Edward Gorey by hosting exhibitions of his works and selling his books, as well as collectibles and posters. Naturally, Gotham continued its long and famous tradition of hosting literary parties, as well as the meetings of the James Joyce Society. | ||
The fact that Brown didn't own Gotham Book Mart building presented many problems for him. Due to rising insurance costs, Brown planned to move Gotham Book Mart from its historical location at 41 West 47th Street. To clear out inventory, Brown sold around 65 percent of Gotham's book stock (about 200,000 volumes) to New Mexico State University at Las Cruces in 1975; however, GBM did not end up moving after the sale. In February 1988, Brown was finally able to purchase Gotham's brownstone at 41 West 47th street for $1 million. (Steloff donated the building to American Friends of the Hebrew University with the stipulation that Brown had the first option to purchase it for $1 million, but the AFHU denied that clause was ever agreed upon. As a result, Steloff sued AFHU; the parties settled and Brown was finally able to purchase the building.) | ||
Legal and financial issues continued to plague Brown, particularly following Steloff's death of pneumonia at the age of 101 on April 15, 1989. In May 1997, Joanne Carson (former second wife of Johnny Carson and close friend of Truman Capote) filed a lawsuit against Brown for $1.4 million. Carson gave Brown a total of $640,000 in 1988 and 1991 in order for him to make payments and improvements to GBM building; however, whether the money was a loan to be paid back or an investment was subject to interpretation. Carson and Brown later settled, but Brown continued to experience a series of health and financial problems. In July 2001, Brown listed the five-story brownstone that housed GBM since 1946 for sale with a price of $7.9 million. After two years, Brown sold the building in July 2003 for $7.2 million in order to pay off debts associated with the store. It seemed the shop was once again at risk of closing, but two investors who wished to remain anonymous at the time (but later disclosed as Estee Lauder executive, Leonard A. Lauder and investor Edmondo Schwartz), purchased a building at 16 East 46th Street and leased it to Brown. Gotham Book Mart moved to its fourth and final address in 2004. In 2007, Brown owed Lauder and Schwartz months of back rent and taxes and was forced to close Gotham Book Mart's doors after 87 years. An auction of the store's contents, estimated in value at several million dollars, was held in May and drew bidders from around the world. However, the building owner's bid a lump sum of $400,000 for the contents. In December 2009, an anonymous donor donated the inventory of Gotham Book Mart to the University of Pennsylvania. | ||
Frances Steloff's words seem as relevant now as they did in the 1970s, "I am sorry for future generations who never will know the atmosphere and friendly chatter characteristic of real bookshops. How cheated they will be to miss the many associations that books and the gathering of them provide, or the satisfaction of unexpectedly meeting book lovers and collectors of kindred interests" (Journal of Modern Literature, page 800). |
Sources:
In addition to material found in Gotham Book Mart Records, the following sources were used: | ||
"Frances Steloff." Dictionary of Literary Biography, http://galenet.galegroup.com (accessed 9 May 2014). | ||
Journal of Modern Literature, special Gotham Book Mart issue, 4 (April 1975). | ||
Rogers, William Garland, Wise Men Fish Here: The Story of Frances Steloff and the Gotham Book Mart (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965). |
Scope and Contents
Note to Researchers | ||
The finding aid for the Gotham Boom Mart records is a conflation of three original inventories created in 1994, 1996, and 2002, with an addition of a small amount of previously uncataloged material. | ||
The records of Gotham Book Mart document aspects of the iconic independent bookstore which operated in New York City from 1920 to 2007. The bulk of the archive comprises business correspondence, routine business documents, financial records, and some records of the James Joyce Society, which was founded at Gotham Book Mart. While there is some correspondence and documents from the store's early history, the bulk of the records cover 1967 to 1972; the period just after Andreas Brown purchased the store in 1967. The records are organized into three series: Series I. Correspondence and Subject Files, 1938-1982, undated; Series II. Business Operations, 1936-2004; and Series III. James Joyce Society, 1939-2004. | ||
Series I. Correspondence and Subject Files makes up the bulk of the records and is arranged into two subseries: A. Frances Steloff, 1938-1972 and B. Andreas Brown, 1949-1982. The correspondence is from customers, both regular and notable, publishers, authors and artists, and others associated with the book trade. The correspondence is divided between Stellof and Brown based on the original filing system. Correspondence was often addressed to Frances Steloff and/or Andreas Brown, but due to the manner in which the business operated and the later change in ownership, the correspondence files should be viewed overall as addressed to Gotham Book Mart. There is little correspondence that is strictly personal, but many customers, book suppliers, and publishers came to know Steloff and/or Brown quite well, so there are many personal elements to the letters. Letters addressed to Steloff which predate Brown may be filed with Brown because he continued the correspondence with that individual once he purchased the store. | ||
The container list uses original folder titles, unless the title was misleading. Brown commonly used a red felt pen with instructions as to where his staff should file the correspondence within his files and it wasn't always by the name of the correspondent. For example, a letter regarding Edward Gorey might be filed under "G" or it may be filed under the name of the correspondent or the name of the institution the correspondent represented. Correspondence was not rearranged during processing and a list of correspondents found throughout the archive is provided in this guide's Index of Correspondents. Frequently, incoming letters include Gotham Book Mart's typed carbon copy responses, which are often on small bits of scrap paper. In addition, some letters contain attachments such as clippings, brochures and sales material, samples, proofs, and newsletters. Some folders served as subject files and contain clippings, inventories for appraisals completed by Brown, phone messages, publicity materials, posters, and similar materials about the individual named on the folder. | ||
Of particular interest are the files belonging to writers and artists Brown represented in the sale of their archives and papers, such as Gregory Corso, Caresse Crosby, E. E. Cummings, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen and Lewis Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gerard Malanga, Anaïs Nin, and James Purdy. The correspondence provides a small insight into the financial realities facing many of these creators and the struggle they or their literary executors (frequently a spouse) had in parting with material that was very significant to their lives. | ||
Other notable correspondents include Paul Bowles, John and Elizabeth Dos Passos, Gordon Lish, John Martin of Black Sparrow Press, Henry Miller, Warren Roberts at the University of Texas at Austin, Patti Smith, and Tennessee Williams. Included with the Tennessee Williams correspondence are several manuscript drafts for works. Williams and Brown had a friendly relationship, but it is unclear how Brown obtained these or for what purpose. The correspondence between Andreas Brown and Frances Steloff provides some information into their business relationship, particularly as it relates to the building. | ||
Most of the original folders were not retained during processing, but where they bore writing or in some cases contained notes stapled to the file, the original folder or photocopies of the original folder were added to the folder's contents. | ||
Series II. Business Operations contains the routine files, records, and documents that Gotham produced or acquired in the course of regular business operations. The series is arranged into five subseries: A. Gotham Book Mart Operations, 1936-1997, undated; B. Small Presses and Little Magazines, 1955-1981; C. Gotham Book Mart Publishing, 1970-1973; D. Sorer Realty Corporation, 1945-1955; and E. Financial Records, 1965-1981. | ||
Subseries A. Gotham Book Mart Operations contains an incomplete sample of GBM's advertisements, catalogs, publicity, correspondence, customer lists, and party contracts. Though there are a few files dating from GBM's earlier history, the bulk of these materials date from 1967 to 1975. An important historical record in the series is the original purchase contract between Andreas Brown and Frances Steloff located in box 29.8. Negotiations regarding the store and the building are documented in the few notes and letters housed in box 29.1. | ||
The Swedish Academy's Nobel Library purchased books from Gotham Book Mart between 1991 and 1997. The folder Svenska Akademiens Nobelbibliotek in box 31.9 contains the invoices with the book titles the Academy purchased. Brown placed a note dated 2004 in the file explaining that he believed these were the books and authors the Academy evaluated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. | ||
Also of interest in this series are the thirteen folders related to purchases made by the University of Texas at Austin Humanities Research Center (now the Harry Ransom Center). | ||
Subseries B. Small Presses and Little Magazines includes pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters, poetry broadsides and keepsakes, as well as correspondence related to the independent literary publishers, academic literary quarterlies, small press books and magazines, and alternative press publications stocked and sold by Gotham Book Mart during the 1970s. These publications often published experimental writings that the mainstream press viewed as unprofitable. Many provided unique information and focused on social concerns, and as such document many of the cultural, literary, political, and social movements of the 1970s. The files were kept by the Small Press Department representative Janie Tannenbaum. Andreas Brown often wrote queries to Tannenbaum in red felt pen on the catalogs. The correspondence between the small press publishers and Gotham includes orders and requests for payment and reflects the financial burden and cash flow issues prevalent to both small publishers and independent bookstores such as Gotham. The series is arranged alphabetically by press name. | ||
Subseries C. Gotham Book Mart Publishing includes a small amount of correspondence, sales material, proofs, and samples associated with three books GBM published under its imprint: Attacks of Taste (Editors Evelyn B. Byrne and Otto M. Penzler, 1971), reprinting of Surrealism Pro and Con (Nicolas Calas, Kenneth Burke, Herbert J. Muller, 1973), and Scenes Along the Road (Ann and Samuel Charters, 1970). Gotham published its first book in the 1940s, so this segment of material is incomplete and doesn't fully reflect the publishing aspect of Gotham's business. The Correspondence series contains additional material, galley proofs, and letters between Gotham and other authors it published, such as Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg, and Ann Charters. | ||
Subseries D. Sorer Realty Corporation was the organization under which Steloff leased the upper floor properties of the building when Gotham Book Mart resided at 41 West 47th Street. Steloff frequently rented these spaces to small presses or other small businesses. Past tenants included James Laughlin of New Directions, Pilot Press, Waitzal & Son, Jack Zander Productions, James M. Leopold & Co., Newburger, Loeb & Co., Jones & Delaney, Inc., Social Science Publishers, and dancer Jeni Le Gon; one of the first African-American women in tap dance to establish a career as soloist. Leases and correspondence with tenants comprises the bulk of the subseries, followed by correspondence and bills for renovations and building maintenance. Also included are records of Steloff's payments to Columbia University. | ||
Subseries E. Financial Records contains oversized ledger books or pages that record cash disbursements and cash receipts between 1965 and 1981. Additional financial records and ledgers which record daily sales transactions and business operations are stored off-site from the Ransom Center. Examples include debt collections, dunning letters, business taxes, bank statements, accounts payable and receivable, employee records and taxes, and routine bills. Associated with these financial records are "General Customer Correspondence and Orders." These files are routine orders submitted via letter from customers and often addressed impersonally to GBM. These financial and customer order records remain unprocessed. A summary of these records and instructions for requesting these boxes is included at the end of this finding aid. | ||
Series III. James Joyce Society contains a small amount of membership and meeting records primarily dating between 1965 and 1979. The Society was formed in February 1947 at Gotham Book Mart with John S. Slocumb as its first president, Frances Steloff founder and treasurer, and Philip Lyman as secretary. Included is correspondence associated with meetings, general queries for information and membership, and with a small number of Joyce scholars who often lectured at meetings and were also members. Postcards sent to members advertising the meeting and its special guests are also included. A great deal of printed material, newsletters, flyers and invitations to other Joyce events and tributes, and clippings about Joyce are present, as is a scrap of wallpaper labeled "7 Eccles St." This is the Dublin address belonging to Joyce's fictional Ulysses character Leopold Bloom. Also present in the collection is a photograph taken by Martin Harris for Life magazine ("Life Goes to a Party") of Finnegan's wake held at Gotham Book Mart on May 4, 1939 in celebration of the publication of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. |
Related Material
Ransom Center holdings with materials related to Gotham Book Mart include, Frances Steloff, Andreas Brown, or the James Joyce Society include the papers of Stella Adler, Woody Allen, Margaret Anderson, Samuel Beckett, William Burford, Morris Leopold Ernst, Noël Riley Fitch, Stuart Gilbert, Edward Gorey, Mel Gussow, Michael Josselson, Carlton Lake, Henry Miller, Marianne Moore, J. D. Salinger, Edith Sitwell, Gertrude Stein, James Stephens, Tennessee Williams, William Carlos Williams, and Sally Zaiser. | ||
Skidmore College holds additional materials related to Frances Steloff; New York Public Library holds additional materials related to Gotham Book Mart, Frances Steloff, and the James Joyce Society; San Diego State University holds additional material related to Andreas Brown; University of Pennsylvania Rare Books and Manuscripts Library holds additional material related to Gotham Book Mart. |
Separated Material
Publications transferred to the Ransom Center library include Edward Gorey's Fantod V. Three Books from the Fantod Press: The Disrespectful Summons, The Lost Lions, The Abandoned Sock (1973) and Through the Eyes of a Teacher (1980) by Father James Harold Flye, Donald Dietz, David Herwaldt, and Robert Coles. | ||
The Ransom Center Vertical Files include printed material about Gotham Book Mart removed from the collection, according to Ransom Center practice prior to the 1990s. Materials include clippings, business cards invitations to Gotham Book Mart art openings, publication day parties, and signings sent to the Ransom Center between the 1960s and the 1980s. | ||
Separating photographs to the photography collection was also standard practice at the Ransom Center prior to the 1990s. Photographs attached to correspondence were transferred to the Photography Literary Files Collection and cataloged under the following names: Elga Duval, Mel Fielding, Robert Gibb, Robert Kirby, Jeffrey Miller, Motif, Paul Pfaff, and Jakob Schwartz. | ||
The majority of Gotham Book Mart's financial, personnel, and sales records are stored off-site from the Ransom Center. These records are not fully processed and include ledgers, debt collection, checkbook stubs, payroll forms, tax documents and returns, bank statements, accounts payable and receivable, and some routine bills. Also included are general customer orders submitted to Gotham via correspondence, as well as purchase orders, invoices, and receipts. Many of these orders are for books published by Gotham Book Mart. These records date from 1920 to 1993, but the bulks of these records span the 1960s and 1970s. It may require up to three business days' notice for access in the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting the off-site material: reference@hrc.utexas.edu. When requesting boxes stored off-site, use the bar code that corresponds to the LSF box numbers, which are listed immediately following the Container List table. |
Index Terms
People |
||
Brown, Andreas. | ||
Joyce, James, 1882-1941. | ||
Steloff, Frances, 1887-1989. | ||
Organizations |
||
Gotham Book Mart. | ||
James Joyce Society (New York, N.Y.) | ||
Subjects |
||
Booksellers and bookselling--New York (State)--New York. | ||
Little magazines. | ||
New York (N.Y.)--Intellectual life. | ||
Rare books. | ||
Small presses. | ||
Places |
||
New York, N.Y. | ||
Document Types |
||
Broadsides. | ||
Financial records. | ||
Legal documents. | ||
Pamphlets. | ||
Sales catalogs. |