The Realm of Bohemia: Clubland and Bohemian Culture in Victorian London and Manchester 1850-1914

This thesis is about bohemian associational culture in London and Manchester between 1850 and 1914. It is concerned with how the ideas of bohemianism and bohemia influenced specific groups of urban men during the period. Throughout, I explore the multiple moving parts that came together to form the array of interrelated images, perceptions, expectations and behaviours that constituted Victorian bohemia. I examine, in turn, the following aspects of bohemian culture: dress and appearances, interior spaces, behaviour and manner and the manifestation of particular kinds of convivial atmosphere. I follow this with a consideration of modes of homosociality and humour in bohemian communities, particularly competitive wit and practical joking. The thesis also includes a consideration of the bohemian engagement with the street, the interpretation of the urban exterior as a sequence of fantastical realms and the relation between urban rambling and constructions of bohemian selfhood. In the final section, I consider how bohemian ideals morphed and changed over the life courses of bohemian men and examine the little explored theme of ageing in bohemia. These different dimensions suggest that, due to its piecemeal and composite nature, bohemian culture was deeply concerned with performative and observational behaviours. I also find that community and interconnection, both within bohemian coteries and between bohemia and the wider middle classes, were of fundamental importance to the subculture in mid and late

Victorian England.