Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Painted portrait of French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon.

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

Photograph of British humanist, naturalist, and critic Alfred Russel Wallace.

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Photograph of American poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Oil painting portrair Michel de Montaigne in red robes and white collar

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

Photograph of English art critic, novelist, and painter John Berger.

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Black and white photograph of German-language writer Franz Kafka.

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

Photograph of Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear.

Luther Standing Bear

(1868 - 1939)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Black and white photograph of French novelist, essayist, and playwright Albert Camus.

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Photograph of British novelist and editor J.R. Ackerley with dog.

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of Polish writer, artist, teacher, and critic Bruno Schulz.

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Black and white photograph of Irish poet and writer W. B. Yeats.

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of English novelist and satirist T. H. White.

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

Black and white photograph of a young Mark Twain with dark hair.

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Image of Platonic philosopher, rhetorician, and author Lucius Apuleius.

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Photograph of pilot, horse trainer, writer, and adventurer Beryl Markham on horseback.

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

Photograph of New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger.

Burkhard Bilger

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand