The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

This is the kind of stuff I fantasize about...

New York literary treasure rescued from warehouse

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A literary hoard that includes works by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, as well as 18th and 19th century texts, has been rescued from New York City's storied but now defunct Gotham Book Mart.

The 220,000-item collection, including books, periodicals, posters and catalogs, has been languishing in a Connecticut warehouse since 2005 when the 85-year-old bookstore - a midtown magnet for many literary figures over the years - closed.

The University of Pennsylvania's Rare Book and Manuscript Library has acquired the store archive and has started taking delivery - on eight tractor-trailers-- of 3,800 boxes containing the collection. It will spend the next several years evaluating and cataloging it.

David McKnight, director of the library, said the books and other items are in excellent condition because they have been kept in a cool, dry environment since they had been removed from the Gotham store.

The literary treasure trove has been anonymously donated to Penn - which beat four other institutions that bid for ownership -- and is worth at least $4 million, said McKnight. The collection was originally acquired by the donor for $400,000 when Gotham Book Mart closed.

It contains first editions, experimental literary magazines and advance readers' copies of well-known works. About a third of the collection is classified as "rare books," McKnight said.

Subjects covered include poetry and prose, art, architecture, photography, music, dance and film. In addition to its modernist writers of the 1930s and 40s, the collection also contains valuable materials from the 18th and 19th centuries.

My mouth waters just thinking about it...