Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

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

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

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

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

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

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Photograph of American poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

Burkhard Bilger

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

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

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

Photograph of Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear.

Luther Standing Bear

(1868 - 1939)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

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

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

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

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

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

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)