ABSTRACT
Originally, being a good Bohemian was supposed to require even more than participation and appreciation. It was having the carefree, unconventional spirit of the vagabond or struggling artist. It was a way of “being.” Specifically, it was being like the mythical “Bohemian” artist celebrated in American letters since the middle of the nineteenth century. Indeed, the origins of the Bohemian Club * can be traced directly to this romantic literary and cultural current, for the club's founders were much taken with its major figures and their writings.
