The prestigious club for theatre people elected to membership has been headquartered since 1888 in a remodeled mansion at 16 Gramercy Park in New York City, which was also Edwin Booth's last home. Incorporated earlier that year by Booth and 15 other stage professionals, The Players was intended to provide its members with a venue for civilized discourse while demonstrating to the world the refined qualities of actors and other artists. Booth and Lawrence Barrett contributed their personal libraries to form the collection housed there, augmented by a wealth of theatrical portraits and memorabilia. Booth's third-floor bed-sitting room remains as it was the night he died there, with his slippers beside the bed.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.