Lewis Lapham papers, 1950-2020
Collection context
- Creator:
- Lapham, Lewis H.
- Extent:
- 66 Linear Feet (59 ms boxes and an assortment of rsc and cartons. A total of 91 boxes)
- Language:
- English .
- Scope and content:
-
The materials in this collection span a sixty-year period in the life of Lewis Lapham whose half century as editor of Harper's Magazine and Lapham's Quarterly runs parallel to his career as America's foremost essayist on the subject of power, wealth, and class. Called by Kurt Vonnegut "our greatest satirist", Lapham entered the newspaper industry in 1960 as a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner and New York Herald Tribune, soon contributing feature articles to the Saturday Evening Post where, under the mentorship of editor Otto Friedrich, he developed a trenchant, even-tempered style of reportage, one eschewing the fashionable, overheated tropes of New Journalism. Lapham's observational prose lent his writing a documentary acuity, rendering his larger-than-life subjects (Thelonious Monk, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller, The Beatles) with a sense of scale commensurate to the epoch which produced them.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
Single reproductions may be made for research purposes. It is the responsibility of the user to secure permission for publication or use from the appropriate copyright holder.
- Preferred citation:
-
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lewis Lapham Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu