press

National Magazine Award Finalist 2011
Honoring our 2010 issues "Religion," "Arts & Letters" and "The City"

Best American Travel Writing 2010
“Take Nothing, Leave Nothing,” by Simon Winchester

Best American Essays 2009
“And Such Small Deer,” by Garret Keizer

Best New Publication
Utne Independent Press Awards, 2009

Best New Magazine Launch
Library Journal Award, 2008

If we sat around lamenting about all the book or magazine ideas we wished we'd thought of, this one would be tops. We should pick huge topics; topics that intimidate us with all their possibilities—we would've said had we thought of this—and then we'll compile all the best writing on these topics going back to ancient times. Then we'll add some amazing contemporary writers and make it all one huge narrative spanning the breadth of human existence. And we'll do this every three months.
—McSweeney's Internet Tendency

“Lapham’s Quarterly is a godsend, a genuine treasure for any and all who care about history and ideas and the love of learning. It is superbly edited, beautifully designed and illustrated, and has a good tactile presence exactly in the spirit of its purpose. I don’t know when I’ve been so pleased by something that arrived in the mail unexpectedly. Bravo!”
— David McCullough

“Brilliant and much needed.”
— Dave Eggers

“No matter how many magazines and journals to which you may subscribe, “Lapham’s Quarterly is a necessity. From its very first issue, it has become the Thinking Person’s Guide to where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we may be going. Lewis Lapham’s name on the cover is enough to tell you, you’re in for an intellectual treat.”
— Morley Safer

“By assembling such a large and varied collection of original materials about war, taken from many cultures and periods, “Lapham’s Quarterly has provided an unparalleled service for at least one constituency, teachers of history. This is a treasure trove for the classroom, for student papers, and for all who encounter war in its many guises. The next issue, on money, will be no less rich and entertaining, and future topics will doubtless make the Quarterly an essential resource for anyone who seeks to explore the enormous repository of commentary on the daily issues that all societies face.”
— Theodore Rabb

“Lavishly detailed, handsomely produced, and conceptually brilliant... It recontextualizes history and makes it come alive to the sound of battle.”
— James Wolcott, Vanity Fair

“Enthralling reading... A magazine that demands focus and engages intellect in order to elicit persuasive emotions.”
— Francesca Mari, The New Republic

“Lapham’s Quarterly is careful to avoid narratives bogged down in scholar-speak, instead favoring histories rich in both detail and prose. This commitment to readability makes the journal’s content a unique, pleasant marriage of great storytelling and important historical accounts.”
— Morgan Winters, Utne Reader

“Lapham’s Quarterly is as counterintuitive a launch in the shattered, tattered, scatter-brained cacophony we call a culture as one could imagine. It doesn’t change ‘content’ every few hours: it appears with the seasons, four times a year. Everything in it is emphatically out of date, not of the moment, on the cusp of no late-breaking trend or news cycle. Lapham’s Quarterly is pure history, every one of its scoops, exposés, celebrity profiles, in-depth interviews, and zeitgeisty round-ups emanating from that far-off country, the past. Delightedly non-digital (though there’s a robust website), sumptuously art-directed on heavy, authoritative stock, the magazine has the heft of a trade paperback, but without the usual padding of half-naked lads and lasses in their undies or nostril-puckering fragrance ads.”
— Tony Hendra, The Huffington Post

“The tag line for the recently launched “Lapham’s Quarterly is ‘the journal that enlists the counsel of the dead.’ Don't worry: this isn't a horror film. Instead, this thick periodical, helmed by — and named for — Lewis Lapham, culls writings from the history books, and age-old source material. In the new issue, “States of War,” the former editor of Harper’s gets the help of Homer and Woodrow Wilson, who lend perspective to our own modern conflicts.”
— The Christian Science Monitor

“It is not the next big thing; it is the real thing, a must-read.”
— Ken Alexander, The Walrus (Canada)

“Expertly edited and easy to read.”
— The Age (Australia)

“Mr. Lapham’s magazine is so full of incredible information, incredible writing, horrendous accounts and terrifying accounts and tragic accounts of man’s warfare. The book is a treasure trove, full of history right up to today’s armed conflicts and conflagrations.”
— David Patrick Columbia, New York Social Diary

“Expertly presented, with a soft matte finish and subdued colors, the magazine has a look and feel that reflect the quality of the fine writing. Essential for academic libraries; highly recommended for public libraries.”
— Steve Black, Library Journal

“What one is reminded of in combing the pages, of course, is the degree to which our problems were the problems of our forefathers, too. That’s a lively lesson to keep in mind in our self-absorbed age.”
— Baton Rouge Advocate

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