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The Inquisition's Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia

Name: The Inquisition's Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia
Brand: University of Pennsylvania Press
SKU: 9781512825985
Price: 68.99 USD
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Contributors:

Richard L. Kagan

Publisher:

University of Pennsylvania Press

Binding:

Hardcover

Book Category:

Biography & Autobiography, History

Book Subcategory:

Historical, United States, Europe

Book Topic:

19th Century, Medieval

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The product is eligible for a complimentary return within 30 days from the date of purchase. Furthermore, individual items are shipped within 24 hours of receiving the order.

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Release Date:

2024-10-15

ISBN 13:

9781512825985

Weight:

1.6 lbs

Size:

9.00 x 6.00 x 1.00 inches

Pages:

392

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product description

Description

The first comprehensive biography of Philadelphia's Henry C. Lea (1825-1909): historian, publisher, political activist, and reformer

Writing in 1868, the Philadelphia publisher-cum-historian Henry Charles Lea informed a friend, "I am trying to collect the materials for a history of the Inquisition." The collecting of these materials--books, manuscripts, and copies of thousands of pages of documents housed in musty European archives and libraries--would occupy Lea (1825-1909) for the remainder of his life. It also led to publication of A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages (1884-87) and his acknowledged masterpiece, A History of the Inquisition of Spain (1906-7). Regarded as classics, these path-breaking books inaugurated better understanding of the history of an institution whose aims and methods troubled Lea and remain subjects of heated debate.

The first biography of Lea since 1931, The Inquisition's Inquisitor offers the most comprehensive review to date of his writing on the history of the Catholic Church. Though Lea is generally regarded as a leading practitioner of "scientific" history, Richard L. Kagan examines the extent to which Lea's religious convictions compromised the ostensibly objective character of his work. Lea's extensive surviving correspondence also enables Kagan to examine other aspects of Lea's long and productive career as one of Philadelphia's most prominent citizens. Lea appears here a young literary critic; a businessman who skillfully transformed his family's publishing firm into the country's leading producer of medical books; a dogged political reformer; and a philanthropist whose largesse benefitted many of Philadelphia's cultural institutions. Newly discovered sources also allow for insights into Lea's private life, notably his controversial infatuation with his first cousin and future wife, Anna C. Jaudon, and the periodic breakdowns that required abandonment of his beloved "intellectual pursuits."

The Inquisition's Inquisitor concludes with a survey of Lea's legacy with respect to current understanding of the Inquisition and to Philadelphia, where reminders of his accomplishments include an eponymous library at the University of Pennsylvania and public elementary school in nearby West Philadelphia.

About the Author
Richard L. Kagan is Academy Professor of History and Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor Emeritus of History at Johns Hopkins University.

The Inquisition's Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia

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