November 07, 2019
Inventing a God
Why was it believed that the Aztecs greeted Cortés as a deity?
Read MoreRoundtable
Opinions and analysis from Lapham’s Quarterly writers and editors.
June 8, 2025
November 06, 2019
Grave Matters
On the history of bringing dead American soldiers back home.
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November 04, 2019
Look Before You Leap
Seeing what’s right in front of us in portraits from the past.
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November 01, 2019
The Rest Is History
An anti-witchcraft potion, a laundry ghost, and wine for all.
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October 31, 2019
This Is the End of the Earth
On the death of John Quincy Adams and legacies far too big to fit comfortably.
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October 29, 2019
The Royal Image Goes Pear-Shaped
How caricaturing the powerful led to political censorship in France.
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October 28, 2019
Gold Diggers on Camera
Creating the myth of the gold rush with the help of daguerreotypists.
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August 07, 2023
Monumental Mistakes
2023:
Fitness instructor carves his girlfriend’s name into the Colosseum.
c. 1850:
Thompson of Sunderland makes his mark on Pompey’s pillar.
May 22, 2023
Revolutionary Lovebirds
2023:
Writers on strike search for romance at the picket line.
c. 1945:
Young communists engage in party matchmaking.