Roundtable

Opinions and analysis from Lapham’s Quarterly writers and editors.

August 08, 2013

The Ladies’ Cabin

Sea travel became a more prominent part of a woman’s life in the nineteenth century, but was it an acceptable place for a lady?

August 05, 2013

A Painted Ship Upon a Painted Ocean

By Miles Klee

On the high seas, the doldrums are a place where ships linger, unable to push forward through the too-calm sea. In literature, doldrums become synonymous with a particular kind of inert malaise.

August 02, 2013

Underwater Impressions

By J.M. Tyree

Leni Riefenstahl’s final film was a wordless, undersea documentary—and her only film after the fall of the Nazi regime.

July 28, 2013

The Fantastical Allure of the Space Whale

By Rebecca Onion

During the mid-twentieth century, the twin concerns of space exploration and environmentalism found a curious mascot: the space whale.

July 14, 2013

Widow’s Walk

By Amy Brill

Whalers left Nantucket and Cape Cod in droves in search of the next big catch—what of those who stayed behind?

July 13, 2013

The Man Before the Mast

By Elias Altman

When Herman Melville began to write Moby Dick he was chasing his own literary white whale: Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast.

July 03, 2013

Helpful Hints for Amputations

By Angela Serratore

Civil War amputations were a grisly affair; luckily, there were instruction manuals for busy or inexperienced surgeons.

June 28, 2013

Fine-Feathered Friends

By Adee Braun

In nineteenth century New York, women flocked to shops to buy hats adorned with exotic bird feathers. Eventually, though, they started to wonder if such adornment was necessary—or ethical.