Editing Algonquin Round Table (section)

==Origin==
The group that would become the Round Table began meeting in June 1919 as the result of a practical joke carried out by theatrical press agent [[John Peter Toohey]]. Toohey, annoyed at ''[[The New York Times]]'' drama critic [[Alexander Woollcott]] for refusing to plug one of Toohey's clients ([[Eugene O'Neill]]) in his column, organized a luncheon supposedly to welcome Woollcott back from [[World War I]], where he had been a correspondent for ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]''. Instead, Toohey used the occasion to poke fun at Woollcott on a number of fronts. Woollcott's enjoyment of the joke and the success of the event prompted Toohey to suggest that the group in attendance meet at the Algonquin each day for lunch.<ref>{{cite book
| last =Herrmann
| first =Dorothy
| author-link =
| title =With Malice Toward All: The Quips, Lives and Loves of Some Celebrated 20th-Century American Wits
| publisher =G. P. Putnam's Sons
| year =1982
| location = New York
| pages =17–18
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 0-399-12710-0}}</ref><ref name="p269739634">{{Cite news |last=Musial |first=Robert |date=20 June 1994 |title=New York's Algonquin Hotel celebrates the literary Round Table's 75th anniversary |page=D4 |work=The Spectator |id={{ProQuest|269739634}}}}</ref>

The group first gathered in the Algonquin's Pergola Room (later called the [[Algonquin Hotel#Oak Room|Oak Room]]) at a long rectangular table. As they increased in number, Algonquin manager [[Frank Case]] moved them to the Rose Room and a round table.<ref>Hermann, pp. 19–20</ref> Initially the group called itself "The Board" and the luncheons "Board meetings". After being assigned a waiter named Luigi, the group re-christened itself "Luigi Board". Finally, they became "The Vicious Circle" although "The Round Table" gained wide currency after a [[caricature]] by cartoonist [[Edmund Duffy]] of the ''[[Brooklyn Eagle]]'' portrayed the group sitting at a round table and wearing armor.<ref>Herrmann, p. 20</ref>