Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

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

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Photograph of American poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

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

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

Burkhard Bilger

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

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

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

Photograph of Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear.

Luther Standing Bear

(1868 - 1939)

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

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

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

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

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

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

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

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

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)