''Lapham's Quarterly'' is a
literary magazine established in 2007 by former ''
Harper's Magazine'' editor
Lewis H. Lapham.
Each issue examines a theme using primary source material from history. The inaugural issue "States of War" contained dozens of essays, speeches, and excerpts from historical authors ranging from
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
,
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, and
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of '' The ...
to
Mark Twain, among others. Recent issue themes included "Foreigners", "Time", and "Youth". Each issue includes an introductory essay by Lapham (or a member of the magazine's editorial board),
readings from historical contributors, and essays by contemporary writers and historians.
History
Lapham left ''Harper's'' in 2006 to found ''Lapham's Quarterly'', saying he had been thinking about the idea since 1998:
"I had put together a collection of texts on the end of the world for the History Book Club
Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000.
Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...
. They wanted something at the turn of the millennium and I developed this idea by looking at the way the end of the world has ended r been envisioned to endmany, many times and how predictions of doom have been spread across time. Whether you're talking about the Book of Revelation or tenth-century sects. So I had this wonderful collection of texts and I thought what a great idea. Also it was fun."
Organization
''Lapham's Quarterly'' is published by the American Agora Foundation, a
not-for-profit foundation dedicated to fostering interest in history. The offices are located in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
[ As of 2014, the magazine had a staff of 17 and a circulation of 40,000.]
Online
Since 2010 the magazine has produced a podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
featuring interviews and discussion related to topics from recent issues.
References
Further reading
* .
* .
"F. Scott Fitzgerald, It Seems, Never Met Lewis Lapham"
by Gary Shapiro, ''New York Sun'', February 23, 2007.
Tony Hendra
Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Co ...
, Huffington Post, Dec 3, 2007.
"My Library: Lewis Lapham"
a look inside the journal’s operations.
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/
Visual arts magazines published in the United States
Literary magazines published in the United States
Political magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 2007
Magazines published in New York City
Publishing companies of the United States