ABSTRACT
The birthplace of Bohemia is identified as the Latin Quarter, where groups of young creatives, including many from Britain, Ireland, and the USA, produced vaudeville comedies, theatre entertainments, and copy for the periodical press, living the image of the artistic life constructed by Balzac, George Sand, and Gautier. A close reading of Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème is used to build a model for comparisons with the satellite Bohemias described in subsequent chapters. It is established that the development of Bohemia in Paris maintained a synchronous and symbiotic relationship with London Bohemia, challenging the current narrative of Parisian exclusivity.
