Historical Studies Book Talk with Richard Kagan

Kagan

Henry C. Lea (1825–1909), a Philadelphia-based historian, publisher, political activist, and reformer, was determined to write what he understood as a ‘scientific’ history of the Inquisition, especially that of Spain. He obsessively acquired books, manuscripts, and copies of thousands of documents housed in European archives and libraries together with others in South America. His groundbreaking writings on the subject fostered better understanding of the history of an institution whose aims and methods troubled Lea and remain the subject of heated debate.

The talk will examine Lea’s long and productive career as a literary critic, shrewd businessman, dogged reformer, historian and philanthropist; his controversial infatuation with his first cousin and future wife, Anna C. Jaudon; his periodic breakdowns that sidetracked his intellectual pursuits; and his religious convictions that compromised his work’s ostensibly ‘scientific’ character. This talk will also explore aspects Lea’s legacy in Philadelphia, including an eponymous library at the University of Pennsylvania and interest in establishing the nation’s first institute of public health.


Richard L. Kagan, Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor Emeritus of History and Academy Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, was twice a member of the School of Historical Studies (1976-77, Fall 2006). He will lecture on his new book, The Inquisition’s Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024).

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Book Talk with Richard Kagan - Wednesday, February 12, 2025

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Date & Time

February 12, 2025 | 5:30pm

Location

Rubenstein Commons