Moses Smith

(1783 - 1870)

Photograph of English literary historian and critic Edmund Gosse.

Edmund Gosse

(1849 - 1928)

Jules Verne

Jules Verne

(1828 - 1905)

Black and white photograph of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

Robert Louis Stevenson

(1850 - 1894)

Painted portrait of British explorer James Cook.

James Cook

(1728 - 1779)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)

Photograph of American novelist Kate Chopin.

Kate Chopin

(1851 - 1904)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Gabriel García Márquez

(1927 - 2014)

Photograph of British writer Richard Hughes.

Richard Hughes

(1900 - 1976)

Color photograph of French oceanic explorer Jacques Cousteau in parka.

Jacques Cousteau

(1910 - 1997)

Image of Japanese poet Kakinomoto Hitomaro.

Kakinomoto Hitomaro

(c. 662 - c. 708)

Painting of Benjamin Franklin reading a batch of papers next to a classical bust.

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

Engraving of Greek satirist Lucian.

Lucian

(125 - c. 180)

Author and journalist Caroline Alexander.

Caroline Alexander

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Color image of English novelist Charlotte Brontë with book in hand.

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Photograph of American oceanographer Charles Moore.

Charles Moore

Photograph of American novelist Maggie Shipstead.

Maggie Shipstead

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

Photograph of American food writer M.F.K. Fisher with cat.

M.F.K. Fisher

(1908 - 1992)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Portrait of English novelist and poet Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith

(1749 - 1806)

Painting of English privateer Woodes Rogers.

Woodes Rogers

(c. 1679 - 1732)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Image of English journalist and sociologist Henry Mayhew.

Henry Mayhew

(1812 - 1887)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Photograph of German-English novelist W.G. Sebald.

W.G. Sebald

(1944 - 2001)

Black and white photograph of Polish-born English writer Joseph Conrad.

Joseph Conrad

(1857 - 1924)

Janet Schaw

(c. 1731 - c. 1801)

Photograph of African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

(1902 - 1967)

Photograph of American novelist Katherine Anne Porter.

Katherine Anne Porter

(1890 - 1980)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Painting of an older Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

(1770 - 1831)

Orderic Vitalis

(1075 - c. 1142)

Engraving of Portuguese poet Luís de Camões.

Luís de Camões

(c. 1525 - 1580)

Photograph of American dramatist Eugene O’Neill.

Eugene O’Neill

(1888 - 1953)

Photograph of former U.S. President Millard Fillmore.

Millard Fillmore

(1800 - 1874)

Photograph of American writer William Langewiesche.

William Langewiesche

Photograph of American dramatist Edward Albee.

Edward Albee

(1928 - 2016)

Photograph of American journalist Sebastian Junger.

Sebastian Junger

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Photograph of French writer Guy de Maupassant.

Guy de Maupassant

(1850 - 1893)

Photograph of Scottish physician James Lowson.

James Lowson

(1866 - 1935)

Jack Thayer

(1894 - 1945)

Portrait bust of presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer.

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

Achilles Tatius

(c. 200 - c. 250)

Photograph of American writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Black and white photograph of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva.

Marina Tsvetaeva

(1892 - 1941)

Photograph of Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson

(1907 - 1964)

Photograph of British explorer and surgeon G. Murray Levick.

G. Murray Levick

(1876 - 1956)

Charles Sprawson

(1941 - 2020)

Engraving of the medieval Arab traveler Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta

(1304 - c. 1369)

Photograph of American writer Lawrence Wright.

Lawrence Wright

Photograph of English novelist John Fowles.

John Fowles

(1926 - 2005)

Image of Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Bashō.

Matsuo Basho

(1644 - 1694)

Manuscript image of St. Bede.

Saint Bede

(c. 673 - 735)

Photograph of British historian and diplomat James Bryce.

James Bryce

(1838 - 1922)

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

Painted portrait of Italian navigator Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus

(1451 - 1506)

T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot

(1888 - 1965)

Photograph of Sri Lankan memoirist and economist Sonali Deraniyagala.

Sonali Deraniyagala

Photograph of West Indian poet and playwright Derek Walcott.

Derek Walcott

(1930 - 2017)

Philip Drake

(c. 1790 - c. 1857)

Sepia toned photograph of Lewis Carroll in a suit, reading a book

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Anyte

(c. 320 BC - c. 280 BC)

Photograph of traveler and writer Isabella Bird.

Isabella Bird

(1831 - 1904)

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

Engraving of Scottish economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

(1723 - 1790)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Engraving of Italian adventurer Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri.

Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri

(1651 - 1725)