Finding Aid to the Bohemian Club Collection
1872-2009 (bulk 1890-1970)
BASC 15
Finding aid composed by Freya Channing
Book Arts & Special Collections
2021
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco 94102
bookarts@sfpl.org
Contributing Institution:
Book Arts & Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4560
bookarts@sfpl.org
Title: Bohemian Club Collection
Identifier/Call Number: BASC 15
Physical Description:
9 manuscript boxes, 1 oversized flat box, and 2 boxes
(4 Cubic Feet)
Date (inclusive): 1872-2009
Date (bulk): 1890-1970
Abstract: The Bohemian Club Collection (BASC 15) consists of material covering the activities of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco
from 1872 to 2009, with the bulk of material from 1890 to 1970. Assembled from donations to the San Francisco Public Library,
the collection contains printed materials from various Bohemian Club activities held at the city club and at Bohemian Grove
in Sonoma County. Included are play and concert programs, event posters and fliers, dinner invitations and menus, plays and
scripts, a small amount of correspondence, membership records, and notices to members.
Physical Location: The collection is stored on site.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
Languages Represented
Collection materials are in English.
Access
Collection is open for research and is available for use during Book Arts & Special Collections hours.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the San Francisco Public Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
materials must be submitted in writing to Book Arts & Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of
the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Bohemian Club Collection (BASC 15), Book Arts & Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library.
Provenance
Much of this collection is from unknown sources. It was part of a larger collection, California Authors, established with
a bequest from
James D. Phelan
in 1934, and gifts from
Albert M. Bender
and other donors such as
Dr. and Mrs. Ernest Denicke
.
Related Materials
Researchers are encouraged to see also the Bohemian Grove Photographs 1890-1950 (SFP 104) and George Sterling's Friends and
Family Photograph Album, 1898-1905 (SFP 34) at the San Francisco Public Library's San Francisco History Center.
Conservation Note
During processing, the entire collection was re-foldered and re-housed in acid-free folders. Some metal staples remain. Most
oversized items were flattened and housed in oversized folders.
Separated Materials
The
Grove Plays
and other published works have been cataloged and can be found in catalog holdings of the San Francisco Public Library. This
collection has 105 Grove Plays, several signed by the author or other Bohemian Club members. A list of titles held by the
library can be found here:
List of Grove Plays held by the San Francisco Public Library (PDF)
, or search our catalog:
Grove Plays
.
Administrative History
Still active today, the
Bohemian Club
of
San Francisco
was founded in 1872 as an all-male, private club for men. According to the
Annals of the Bohemian Club
, the Club started as an informal association of journalists, artists and writers meeting at the home of
James Bowman
, a writer for the
San Francisco Chronicle
. The origin of the term bohemian came from the French artistic movement of the 1830's and represented supportive companionship
of artists and intellectuals.
Article I - This organization shall be known as the Bohemian Club. It is instituted for the association of gentlemen connected
professionally with literature, art, music, the drama, and also those who, by reason of their love or appreciation of these
objects, may be deemed eligible. (Bohemian Club Constitution and By-Laws 1887)
Of the twenty-four charter members, seventeen were affiliated with newspapers or printing. Journalists were to be regular
members; artists and musicians were to be honorary members. Eventually these rules were relaxed to permit people to join who
had greater financial resources. This in turn helped to fund a large range of activities for its members. Membership is by
invitation only and women have never been allowed full membership at the club. Early Bohemian tradition allowed for restricted
visits from women, but women were completely banned from the clubhouse from 1910 to 1933.
For two weeks every summer, the club meets in
Bohemian Grove
, a 2,700-acre campground in in the redwoods in Sonoma County on the Russian River, to celebrate what is known as the Midsummer
Jinks or Midsummer Encampment. Dramatic play performances, outdoor dinners, orchestral performances, and other rituals are
all part of the activities. Guests may be invited to the Grove for either the "Spring Jinks" in June or the main July encampment.
Major events include the "Cremation of Care" ceremony and the "
Grove Plays
".
Scope and Contents
The Bohemian Club Collection (BASC 15) consists of material covering the activities of the
Bohemian Club
of
San Francisco
from
1872 to 2009
, with the majority of material from
1890 to 1970
. The bulk of the collection consists of
printed ephemera
from plays, concerts, art exhibitions, dinners held both at the city club and at Bohemian Grove in
Sonoma County
which can be found in the Events series and Publications series.
The collection is particularly strong in graphic materials printed by
San Francisco Bay Area
printers and presses, including work from
Edward Bosqui
,
Taylor & Taylor
,
Arion Press
,
Grabhorn Press
,
John Henry Nash
,
Tomoye Press
, and
Lawton Kennedy
. Of note is a complete set of
The Nightly Hoot: a journal of revenge
, a one-time publication printed by letterpress during the
1910
Summer Encampment, and three scrapbooks of
printed ephemera
from
1873-1912
.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in the following series: Series 1: Administrative, Series 2: Correspondence, Series 3: Bohemian
Grove Camps, Series 4: Events, Series 5: Scripts, Series 6: Publications
Series 4 and Series 6 have been further divided into subseries. Series 4: Events has 2 subseries: 4.1: Posters, fliers, invitations,
programs and 4.2: Scrapbooks. Series 6: Publications has 5 subseries: 6.1: Newspaper clippings, 6.2: The Nightly Hoot, 6.3
Bohemian Club Library Notes, 6.4: Publications by Bohemian Club members, 6.5: Typescripts.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Clubs -- California -- San Francisco.
Private clubs
Men--Societies and clubs
Theatrical productions -- California -- Bohemian Grove
Playbills.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
Bohemianism--United States
Bohemian Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
Phelan, James D. (James Duval)
Series 1:
Administrative
1891-1995
1891-1970
Physical Description:
15 folders
Scope and Contents
Materials include printed by-laws and member list booklets, annual reports, club membership dues, and a small amount of election
material primarily from
1891
. Also present are notices to members from various committees, club services available, and notices about purchasing property
in
Sonoma County
and erecting a new building in
San Francisco
.
Arrangement
Arranged by type and then chronologically.
box 1, folder 1
Constitution and by-laws
1973, 1976, 1995
box 1, folder 2
Officers and Committees
1943, 1961-1970
box 1, folder 3
Elections
1891
1894
1961
1891
Membership
1894-1970
Physical Description:
3 folders
box 1, folder 4
Membership: Changes in membership, applicants
1960-1970
box 1, folder 5
Membership: In memoriam
1894, 1910, 1919, 1964
box 1, folder 6
Membership: Leather badge
probably 1904
box 1, folder 7
Notices
1891-1893, 1908, 1919, 1934, 1936, 1945, 1960-1965, 1967-1970, 1975, undated
Operations
1961-1965
Physical Description:
3 folders
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Wine lists -- Specimens
box 1, folder 8
Operations: House and restaurant committee
1961, 1963-1964, undated
box 1, folder 9
Operations: Statements and vouchers
1960-1962, 1967-1968, undated
Material Specific Details: Most signed by Harold E. Rhoades or H.E. Rhoades.
box 1, folder 10
Operations: Wine Committee
1965, undated
box 1, folder 11
Real estate 11
1892, 1894, 1916, 1930
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bohemian Grove (Sonoma County, Calif.)
Annual reports
1891-1975
Physical Description:
3 folders
box 1, folder 12
Annual reports
1891, 1894, 1915, 1918, 1921
box 1, folder 13
Annual reports
1933-1934, 1937-1938, 1959-1964
box 1, folder 14
Annual reports
1966-1968, 1974-1975
Series 2
Correspondence
1891-1969
Physical Description:
2 folders
Scope and Contents
This small series contains a correspondence to
J.B. Levison
and
Antonio Sotomayor
along with a few others. Of note is a letter from
Edward F. O'day
to
Clay M. Green
about the
Grove Play
St. John of Nepomuk
and a copy of a letter from
Dr. Samuel Johnson
to
A. Edward Newton
regarding an upcoming dinner in honor of Newton. Many letters are on Bohemian Club letterhead.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sotomayor, Antonio, 1904-1985
Levison, J. B. (Jacob B.), 1862-1947
box 2, folder 1
Correspondence
1891-1892, 1989, 1905, 1921, 1935, 1960, 1968-1969, undated
box 2, folder 2
Typescript of letter from Dr. Samuel Johnson to A. Edward Newton
undated
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Newton, A. Edward (Alfred Edward), 1864-1940
Series 3
Bohemian Grove Camps
1960-1985
Creator:
Ingold, Ernest, 1885-1977
Creator:
Gelwicks, Louis E.
Physical Description:
6 folders
Scope and Contents
The Bohemian Grove Camps series contains printed material about the different camps in the Bohemian Grove in general, Dragon
Camp and the Isle of Aves, but the bulk of the series is about the operations of the Aviary Camp, a camp which is almost exclusively
made up of members of the chorus.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by name of camp and then chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bohemian Grove (Sonoma County, Calif.)
Sotomayor, Antonio, 1904-1985
box 2, folder 6
Bromley, Dragon, Isle of Aves, Monkey Block
1960-1961, 1964-1965, 1968
General
Includes
Dragon Camp
by Ernest Ingold, 1968 [signed by author] and
The pleasant Isle of Aves: a camp in Bohemia, its people and its places
, [1964]
box 2, folder 7
General
[probably 1977], 1985, undated
flat-box 10, oversize-folder 2
General - oversized
1970, 1977, 1979, 1982
Series 4
Events
1872-2009
1900-1970
Scope and Contents
The Events series makes up the bulk of the Bohemian Club Collection. The
printed ephemera
in this series promoted events held by the Bohemian Club between
1872-2009
(bulk between
1900-1970
) and is comprised of posters, fliers, concert programs, art exhibition catalogs, dinner invitations, menus, and other printed
materials. Also included in this series are a few typed lyrics to popular songs and Christmas carols.
Arrangement
Divided into two subseries: Series 4: Events; Subseries 4.1 Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs, 1872-2009;
Subseries 4.2 Scrapbooks, 1873-1912. Arranged in chronological order within subseries.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Printing -- California -- San Francisco -- Specimens.
Artists -- California -- San Francisco -- 19th century.
Exhibitions -- California -- San Francisco
Exhibition catalogs.
Broadsides--Specimens
Menus -- Specimens
Subseries 4.1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1872-2009
Physical Description:
30 folders
Scope and Contents
Programs, posters and invitations for many types of events including dinners, performances, art exhibitions, carnivals, concerts,
plays and musicals.
Arrangement
Chronologically.
box 2, folder 8
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1872, 1878, 1881, 1883-1884, 1887, 1890
box 2, folder 9
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1891
box 2, folder 10
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1892-1893
box 2, folder 11
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1894-1899
box 2, folder 12
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1900-1904
box 3, folder 1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1905-1907
box 3, folder 2
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1908
box 3, folder 3
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1909
box 3, folder 4
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1910
box 3, folder 5
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1911
box 3, folder 6
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1912
box 4, folder 1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1913-1914
box 4, folder 2
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1915-1917
box 4, folder 3
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1918-1919
box 4, folder 4
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1920
box 4, folder 5
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1921
box 4, folder 6
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1922-1923
box 5, folder 1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1924-1928
box 5, folder 2
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1929-1931
box 5, folder 3
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1932-1933
box 5, folder 4
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1934-1937
box 5, folder 5
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1938-1941, 1943, 1945-1951, 1953
box 5, folder 6
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1960-1963
box 6, folder 1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1964-1965
box 6, folder 2
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1966-1968
box 6, folder 3
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1969-1974
box 6, folder 4
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
1975-1980, 1982, 2009
box 6, folder 5
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs
undated
flat-box 10, oversize-folder 1
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs - oversized
08/04/1917
Material Specific Details: The Young China periodical- one page mounted on stiff board. Program for Bohemian Club "Imperial Chinese Aquatic Sports" held
on April 4th, 1917. Other names for periodical: Shao nian Zhongguo chen bao.
flat-box 10, oversize-folder 3
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs - oversized
1892-1893, 1908, 1910, before 1915, 1919, 1921, 1923-1924, 1927, 1929-1930, 1932-1933, 1938
flat-box 10, oversize-folder 4
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs - oversized
1961-1963, 1965, 1968-1970, 1975, 1977
box 6, folder 6
Posters, fliers, invitations, menus, and programs: Non-Bohemian Club events
1892, 1922, 1924, 1967, undated
Material Specific Details: Contains related to non-Bohemian Club events by other clubs or Bohemian Club members.
Subseries 4.2
Scrapbooks
1873-1912
Creator:
Bayley, George Blake, 1840-1894
Creator:
Phelan, James D. (James Duval)
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Scope and Contents
This sub-series contains 3 scrapbooks containing largely Bohemian Club Jinks notices, invitations, fliers, and posters. Other
materials include annual reports and newspaper clippings.
box 11
Scrapbook of George B. Bayley
1873-1894
box 12
Scrapbook of James D. Phelan
1879-1895
Material Specific Details: This scrapbook originally came from the Thomas Wayne Norris Collection. Thomas Wayne Norris was an avid collector of Californiana.
box 12
Scrapbook of James D. Phelan
1892-1912
box BASC Photos: Box 3
St. Patrick at Tara, Bohemian Club Forest Play, photo album
1909
Creator:
Moulin, Gabriel, 1872-1945
Material Specific Details: Photographs of the production of the Grove Play
St. Patrick at Tara : a forest play
by Henry Morse Stephens. Photographs by Gabriel Moulin. Album in cound in black morocco faded to brown with Phelan Collection
bookplate, No. 1410 and presentaion inscription: "For Mrs. Hearst with kind regards. From H. Morse Stephens, September 1909".
Photographs are annotated with quotes from the play and names of people.
Series 5
Scripts
1920-1976
Physical Description:
10 folders
Scope and Contents
This series contains typed and printed scripts for
Bohemian Club
Grove Plays
and other dramatic performances including several "Low Jinks" and the
Cremation of Care
.
Arrangement
Chronological.
box 6, folder 7
So this is Bohemia, or, Turning back the system
1920
box 6, folder 9
The horses behind, or, The jockey's trap, Low Jinks
1965
box 7, folder 1
Seems like ain't is by Dan Gilson, Low Jinks
1969
box 7, folder 4
A poem to the paradoxy
undated
Series 6
Publications
1902-2008
Scope and Contents
This series contains printed matter of several kinds, including newspaper clippings about the Bohemian Club, two Bohemian
Club publications, one being a full run of the
Nightly Hoot
, a newspaper printed by letterpress in
Bohemian Grove
during the
1910
Summer Encampment. In the Typescripts subseries there is an account of a new member's week at the Bohemian Grove in
1912
.
Arrangement
Series 6: Publications: Subseries 6.1 Newspaper clippings,
1912-2008
, bulk:
1912-1934
; Subseries 6.2
The Nightly Hoot, a journal of revenge
,
1910
; Subseries 6.3
Bohemian Club Library Notes
,
1958-1999
; Subseries 6.4 Publications by Bohemian Club members,
1913-1927
; Subseries 6.5 Typescripts,
1902
,
1912
. Arranged in chronological order within subseries.
Subseries 6.1
Newspaper clippings
1912-2008
1912-1934
Physical Description:
6 folders
Scope and Contents
The Newspaper Clipping subseries contains miscellaneous newspaper clippings regarding press for the Bohemian Club, some programs
of club events and newspaper obituaries for
Joseph D. Redding
.
box 7, folder 5
Newspaper clippings
1912-1913
box 7, folder 6
Newspaper clippings
1917-1919
box 7, folder 7
Newspaper clippings
1922, 1925-1926
box 7, folder 8
Newspaper clippings
1932-1934
box 7, folder 10
Newspaper clippings
1981, 1987, 2008
Subseries 6.2
The Nightly Hoot, a journal of revenge
1910
Physical Description:
1 folder
Scope and Contents
Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 25, 1910)-v. 1, no. 13 (Aug. 7, 1910). Published during the Bohemian Club's 1910 summer encampment.
box 7, folder 11
The Nightly Hoot serial
July 1910 - August 1910
Subseries 6.3
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1958-1999
Physical Description:
6 folders
Material Specific Details: Published by the Bohemian Club. Documents the Bohemian Club's history. Letterpress.
Issues Nos.1-106
Lacking No.4
box 8, folder 1
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1958-1978
Material Specific Details: Nos.1-39, lacking No.4.
box 8, folder 2
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1979-1986
Material Specific Details: Nos.40-51.
box 8, folder 3
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1987-1990
Material Specific Details: Nos.52-64.
box 8, folder 4
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1991-1993
Material Specific Details: Nos.65-77.
box 9, folder 1
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1994-1996
Material Specific Details: Nos.78-93.
box 9, folder 2
Bohemian Club Library Notes
1997-1999
Material Specific Details: Nos.94-106.
Subseries 6.4
Publications by Bohemian Club members
1913-1927
Creator:
Lynch, Jeremiah, 1849-1917
Creator:
Field, Charles K. (Charles Kellogg), 1873-1948
Creator:
Garnett, Porter, 1871-1951
Creator:
Palmer, Kate B (Author)
Creator:
Greene, Clay Meredith, 1850-1933
Creator:
Harvey, James Clarence, 1859-1917
Physical Description:
5 folders
box 9, folder 3
The spirit of woman in Bohemia
1913
Material Specific Details: "A playlet written and staged by Kate B. Palmer at a dinner given at their home by her husband to some of his bohemian friends
on the eleventh day of September nineteen hundred and thirteen." Privately printed. Philopolis Press.
box 9, folder 4
Lady Isis in Bohemia
1914
box 9, folder 5
The lure of traffic: A melodrama of the social evil in six acts and nineteen scenes
1914
box 9, folder 6
The call of the man child, or, Miss Bartholdi off her perch
1916
box 9, folder 7
More little tales retold; A little tale retold
1926-1927
Subseries 6.5
Typescripts
1902
1912
Scope and Contents
One folder with two typescripts:
1. Two drafts of "Christmas 1902" with envelope labeled "Stafford paper".
2. "A week in Arcadia: being a contemporary diary of a new member of the Bohemian Club while spending the week of August 5th,
1912 at the Bohemian Grove on the Russian River."