Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

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

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

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

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

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

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

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

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

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 poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

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

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

Photograph of New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger.

Burkhard Bilger

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

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 and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

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

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)