Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Photograph of American editor Brent Cunningham.

Brent Cunningham

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)

Black and white photograph of scholar, novelist, and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis.

C.S. Lewis

(1898 - 1963)

Black and white photograph of American Red Cross founder Clara Barton.

Clara Barton

(1821 - 1912)

American writer Philip Roth.

Philip Roth

(1933 - 2018)

Photograph of American short-story writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809 - 1849)

Anyte

(c. 320 BC - c. 280 BC)

W.H. Auden

(1907 - 1973)

Painted portrait of Scottish philosopher David Hume.

David Hume

(1711 - 1776)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Black and white photograph of American writer James Agee.

James Agee

(1909 - 1955)

Black and white photograph of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

Luis Buñuel

(1900 - 1983)

Color portrait of Greek poet Anacreon.

Anacreon

(c. 582 BC - c. 485 BC)

American writer Barbara Lazear Ascher.

Barbara Lazear Ascher

Sculpture bust of Greek dramatist Euripides.

Euripides

(c. 484 BC - c. 406 BC)

Black and white photograph of American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath.

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Color portrait of Chinese writer and poet Han Yu.

Han Yu

(768 - 824)

Color photograph of Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov.

Dmitry Itskov

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Daniel Somers

(1983 - 2013)

Yamanoue no Okura

(c. 660 - c. 733)

Black and white image of Persian lyric poet Hafez.

Hafez

(c. 1320 - c. 1390)

Black and white photograph of Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky.

Yakov Yurovsky

(1872 - 1938)

Black and white print of English politician, essayist, and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

(1800 - 1859)

Black and white image of German dramatist Heinrich von Kleist.

Heinrich von Kleist

(1777 - 1811)

Engraving of the medieval Arab traveler Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta

(1304 - c. 1369)

Tamenaga Shunsui

(1790 - 1843)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Black and white photograph of English poet Robert Browning seated.

Robert Browning

(1812 - 1889)

Painting of Greek philosopher Heraclitus weeping over a globe.

Heraclitus

(c. 540 BC - c. 480 BC)

Color photograph of American poet and critic Paul Zweig.

Paul Zweig

(1935 - 1984)

Black and white engraving of Roman author Petronius.

Gaius Petronius Arbiter

(c. 27 - 66)

Photograph of American author and editor Bess Lovejoy.

Bess Lovejoy

Black and white photograph of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung seated with legs crossed.

C.G. Jung

(1875 - 1961)

Color engraving of Italian poet, scholar, and humanist Petrarch.

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

Detail of mural featuring Jacobus de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa and chronicler.

Jacobus de Voragine

(c. 1230 - 1298)

Black and white image of English philosopher and political theorist John Stuart Mill.

John Stuart Mill

(1806 - 1873)

Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller

(1923 - 1999)

Black and white photograph of American writer and critic Anatole Broyard.

Anatole Broyard

(1920 - 1990)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Black and white photograph of American poet Sharon Olds.

Sharon Olds

Black and white image of Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca the Younger.

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Color photograph of American physician Jack Kevorkian.

Jack Kevorkian

(1928 - 2011)

Black and white photograph of English poet and librarian Philip Larkin.

Philip Larkin

(1922 - 1985)

Black and white photograph of critic and novelist Mary McCarthy.

Mary McCarthy

(1912 - 1989)

Photograph of American science writer Virginia Morell with dog.

Virginia Morell

Color photograph of American writer Mary Roach leaning on door.

Mary Roach

Ibn Fadlan

(c. 900 - c. 922)

Black and white photograph of English writer and traveler Gertrude Bell.

Gertrude Bell

(1868 - 1926)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Black and white photograph of French writer and film director Marguerite Duras.

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Black and white photograph of John Crowley sitting on a porch.

John Crowley

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Black and white photograph of Italian-born American anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

Bartolomeo Vanzetti

(1888 - 1927)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Black and white photograph of poet, diplomat, and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson.

James Weldon Johnson

(1871 - 1938)

Black and white photograph of former American Marine Guy Gabaldon.

Guy Gabaldon

(1926 - 2006)

Black and white of photograph of American writer Michael Herr standing.

Michael Herr

Color photograph of American writer Annie Dillard.

Annie Dillard

Black and white photograph of English writer and critic Lytton Strachey.

Lytton Strachey

(1880 - 1932)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

Fresco of Franciscan friar and traveler Giovanni da Pian del Carpine.

Giovanni da Pian del Carpini

(c. 1180 - 1252)

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

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Black and white photograph of Italian writer and chemist Primo Levi.

Primo Levi

(1919 - 1987)

Black and white photograph of Emily Dickinson sitting next to a desk.

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Mumon Gensen

(1323 - 1390)

Painted portrait of English physician and author Thomas Browne.

Thomas Browne

(1605 - 1682)

Photograph of Soviet Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman.

Vasily Grossman

(1905 - 1964)

Diodorus Siculus

(c. 90 BC - c. 20 BC)

Black and white photograph of American surgeon and author Sherwin Nuland.

Sherwin Nuland

(1930 - 2014)

Black and white photograph of Italian novelist Italo Svevo.

Italo Svevo

(1861 - 1928)

Black and white of Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas.

Dylan Thomas

(1914 - 1953)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)