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

Michael Herr

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Engraving of the medieval Arab traveler Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta

(1304 - c. 1369)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Black and white photograph of English poet Robert Browning seated.

Robert Browning

(1812 - 1889)

Color portrait of Chinese writer and poet Han Yu.

Han Yu

(768 - 824)

Tamenaga Shunsui

(1790 - 1843)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Color portrait of Greek poet Anacreon.

Anacreon

(c. 582 BC - c. 485 BC)

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

Thomas Babington Macaulay

(1800 - 1859)

Painted portrait of English physician and author Thomas Browne.

Thomas Browne

(1605 - 1682)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)

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

James Weldon Johnson

(1871 - 1938)

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

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Photograph of American editor Brent Cunningham.

Brent Cunningham

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

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

Giovanni da Pian del Carpini

(c. 1180 - 1252)

Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller

(1923 - 1999)

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

Bartolomeo Vanzetti

(1888 - 1927)

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

C.G. Jung

(1875 - 1961)

American writer Barbara Lazear Ascher.

Barbara Lazear Ascher

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Color photograph of American physician Jack Kevorkian.

Jack Kevorkian

(1928 - 2011)

American writer Philip Roth.

Philip Roth

(1933 - 2018)

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

C.S. Lewis

(1898 - 1963)

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

Sherwin Nuland

(1930 - 2014)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)

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

Clara Barton

(1821 - 1912)

W.H. Auden

(1907 - 1973)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Color photograph of American writer Mary Roach leaning on door.

Mary Roach

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

Lytton Strachey

(1880 - 1932)

Color photograph of American poet and critic Paul Zweig.

Paul Zweig

(1935 - 1984)

Black and white photograph of American writer James Agee.

James Agee

(1909 - 1955)

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

Jacobus de Voragine

(c. 1230 - 1298)

Sculpture bust of Greek dramatist Euripides.

Euripides

(c. 484 BC - c. 406 BC)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Black and white of Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas.

Dylan Thomas

(1914 - 1953)

Photograph of American science writer Virginia Morell with dog.

Virginia Morell

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

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

Black and white photograph of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

Luis Buñuel

(1900 - 1983)

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

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809 - 1849)

Black and white photograph of Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky.

Yakov Yurovsky

(1872 - 1938)

Black and white image of German dramatist Heinrich von Kleist.

Heinrich von Kleist

(1777 - 1811)

Painted portrait of Scottish philosopher David Hume.

David Hume

(1711 - 1776)

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

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Color photograph of American writer Annie Dillard.

Annie Dillard

Black and white photograph of former American Marine Guy Gabaldon.

Guy Gabaldon

(1926 - 2006)

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

Anatole Broyard

(1920 - 1990)

Black and white photograph of critic and novelist Mary McCarthy.

Mary McCarthy

(1912 - 1989)

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

Primo Levi

(1919 - 1987)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Black and white photograph of American poet Sharon Olds.

Sharon Olds

Black and white image of Persian lyric poet Hafez.

Hafez

(c. 1320 - c. 1390)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of Soviet Russian writer and journalist Vasily Grossman.

Vasily Grossman

(1905 - 1964)

Photograph of American author and editor Bess Lovejoy.

Bess Lovejoy

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

Philip Larkin

(1922 - 1985)

Anyte

(c. 320 BC - c. 280 BC)

Color photograph of Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov.

Dmitry Itskov

Black and white photograph of Italian novelist Italo Svevo.

Italo Svevo

(1861 - 1928)

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

John Crowley

Painting of Greek philosopher Heraclitus weeping over a globe.

Heraclitus

(c. 540 BC - c. 480 BC)

Daniel Somers

(1983 - 2013)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Mumon Gensen

(1323 - 1390)

Diodorus Siculus

(c. 90 BC - c. 20 BC)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

Black and white engraving of Roman author Petronius.

Gaius Petronius Arbiter

(c. 27 - 66)

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

Gertrude Bell

(1868 - 1926)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Ibn Fadlan

(c. 900 - c. 922)

Yamanoue no Okura

(c. 660 - c. 733)

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

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

John Stuart Mill

(1806 - 1873)