The Delphian Club was founded in
Baltimore in 1816. The number of Baltimore printers, publishers, and booksellers had doubled in the preceding years. Many residents expected the city to become America's leading cultural and commercial center following the
War of 1812 and the literary community dubbed Baltimore "the Rome of the United States". Between 1816 and 1825, the city's literary focal point was the Delphian Club. Works by Delphians are common in the era's
literary magazines. Drawing from classical antiquity, Delphians facetiously claimed their group was founded in 1420 BC. The name refers to the
Oracle of Delphi and club records claim the president to be a representative of
Apollo. Members were each associated with one of the
Muses. The idea for the club originated with physician
Tobias Watkins and failed lawyer and businessman
John Pierpont, who connected in their common association with
Unitarianism. They established the group at their first meeting on August 31, 1816, with Pierpont's former business partner
John Neal, dentist
Horace H. Hayden,
Baltimore College co-founder and vice president
William Sinclair, physician John Didier Readel, and physician James H. McCulloch. Sinclair was the founding president, but passed that role on to Watkins after the first few meetings. The group met every Saturday at 6:30pm, with members taking turns hosting at their homes or offices, most of which were within the area of
St. Paul, Calvert,
Lexington, and
Baltimore Streets. The location of each upcoming meeting was published in the
Federal Gazette newspaper for the benefit of any members who were absent at the preceding meeting. The group of genteel professionals shared refreshments and facetious stories, drawing inspiration from classical antiquity. Neal wrote in 1823, The members read essays, chase puns, wrangle vehemently and noisily about nothing, talk all together, and eat when they do eat, which I should judge could not be oftener than once a week, with inconceivable effect; and drink after the same manner. At the end of the club's first year, members assigned each other "clubicular names" and incurred fines for "misnomers" when they failed to use those names in meetings. Neal's name reflected his reputation for profuse production of passionate literature. Others' were often derived from their personalities or professions. Members were also assigned facetious titles that came with absurd responsibilities. After meeting on the September 27, 1817, the president became known as the Tripod, because "the President should not be referred to as the chair, because the sons of Apollo should have nothing to do with a chair. He should be said to fill a
tripod." The Tripod was properly addressed as "My Lud". The vice president was addressed as "His Sub-Ludship". Watkins felt it was important that the club be not just a joyous social outlet, but also a source of creative production. Delphians took turns presenting written works to each other, choosing a topic from a list of three, developed at the preceding meeting for that particular member. Because they happened every week, members referred to them as "hebdomadal essays". For example, Neal was assigned these three choices on November 23, 1816: "Whether
Cicero or
Dean Swift were the greatest poet?" "Whether
Adam had a
Navel?" "Which should be first on the sign of a Cabinet maker, a coffin, a cradle, or a bedstead?" Twelve newspapers had editors in the club and the club's sixteen members published at least 48 books of fiction, history, travel, letters, and biography, as well as nine volumes of poetry, one play, and nineteen speeches. Many Delphians wrote contributions to the daily
Journal of the Times newspaper, of which
Paul Allen was editor. The club's organ was
The Portico literary magazine, of which Watkins was editor. At their thirty-second meeting on April 5, 1817, the group decided to require regular submissions from members. In 1821, Watkins published a bound collection of three stories titled
Tales of the Tripod; Or, A Delphian Evening. The first is a translation from German of a story by
Heinrich Zschokke. The second two are about Paul Allen, but are cryptic to a reader who has not read the club records. Neal used his name Jehu O'Cataract as a pen name when he published his epic poem
Battle of Niagara in 1818. His first novel,
Keep Cool (1817) was published under the pen name "Somebody, M.D.C.", in which the acronym stands for "member of the Delphian Club". Seven members collaboratively authored an unpublished novel called
Incomprehensibility by taking turns writing chapters. Historian John Earle Uhler described it as "entirely devoid of merit, being vague, verbose, and tiresome". Meetings were discontinued during a
yellow fever epidemic from August 1821 to August 1823. When the club resumed meetings, membership elected
William H. Winder as president to replace Watkins, who was then in federal prison for embezzlement from the
US Treasury.
William Gwynn replaced Winder after the latter's death in 1824 and served until the group's dissolution in 1825. Gwynn hosted all the club's meetings after August 1824 at his home on Bank Lane near St. Paul Street, which he called the Tusculum. This final year was the club's most active and festive. The official club records, kept by Secretary Readel, became public when the
Maryland Historical Society assumed ownership in 1920. ==Membership==