William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

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

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

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

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

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 from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Burkhard Bilger

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

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)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

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

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

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

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

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

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

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

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

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

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)