British author Philip Pullman.

Philip Pullman

Statue depicting Roman orator and historian Tacitus.

Tacitus

(56 - c. 120)

Irish writer Bram Stoker.

Bram Stoker

(1847 - 1912)

French-American author J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur.

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur

(1735 - 1813)

Psychologist and writer Lauren Slater.

Lauren Slater

American author and journalist Jamie James.

Jamie James

English dramatist, writer, and poet Aphra Behn.

Aphra Behn

(1640 - 1689)

Photograph of English novelist John Fowles.

John Fowles

(1926 - 2005)

New York Times editor Richard W. Stevenson.

Richard W. Stevenson

Pierre de Lancre

(1553 - 1631)

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

Florentine sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini.

Benvenuto Cellini

(1500 - 1571)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Saint Augustine (detail), by Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1645.

Saint Augustine

(354 - 430)

English essayist, novelist, journalist, and historian Harriet Martineau.

Harriet Martineau

(1802 - 1876)

Lady Sarashina

(c. 1008 - c. 1059)

Yugoslav novelist Danilo Kiš.

Danilo Kiš

(1935 - 1989)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

Photograph of American writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Tapestry depiction of King Arthur.

Thomas Malory

(c. 1416 - c. 1471)

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

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809 - 1849)

Founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy.

Mary Baker Eddy

(1821 - 1910)

Black and white photograph of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud with cigar.

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Gabriel García Márquez

(1927 - 2014)

Neoplatonist Greek philosopher Porphyry.

Porphyry

(c. 234 - c. 305)

English novelist and poet Emily Brontë.

Emily Brontë

(1818 - 1848)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes.

René Descartes

(1596 - 1650)

American novelist and journalist Mark Helprin.

Mark Helprin

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

American songwriters Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller.

Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

(c. 1950 - 2011)

Scottish anthropologist and historian of religion James G. Frazer.

James G. Frazer

(1854 - 1941)

British author Angela Carter.

Angela Carter

(1940 - 1992)

Polish-born American writer Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Isaac Bashevis Singer

(1903 - 1991)

German magician, occult writer, and theologian Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

(1486 - 1535)

Novelist and psychiatrist Daniel Mason.

Daniel Mason

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

(c. 1490 - c. 1560)

Journalist and author Robert Whitaker.

Robert Whitaker

Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII

(1432 - 1492)

Portrait of English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton

(1643 - 1727)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

American writer John Berendt.

John Berendt

English writer and scholar J.R.R. Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien

(1892 - 1973)

English writer Christopher Marlowe.

Christopher Marlowe

(1564 - 1593)

Spanish soldier and author Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo

(c. 1495 - 1584)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

American author H.P. Lovecraft.

H.P. Lovecraft

(1890 - 1937)

Sculpture bust of Greek dramatist Euripides.

Euripides

(c. 484 BC - c. 406 BC)

Photograph of English professor and author Andrew McConnell Stott.

Andrew McConnell Stott

American illusionist Teller.

Teller

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Painted portrait of Scottish philosopher David Hume.

David Hume

(1711 - 1776)

Austrian explorer and writer Heinrich Harrer.

Heinrich Harrer

(1912 - 2006)

Sufi mystic and poet Rumi.

Rumi

(c. 1207 - 1273)

Byzantine historian and daughter of the emperor Anna Comnena.

Anna Comnena

(1083 - c. 1153)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

Engraving of Greek satirist Lucian.

Lucian

(125 - c. 180)

French Benedictine monk Antoine Augustin Calmet.

Antoine Augustin Calmet

(1672 - 1757)

Russian spiritualist Helena Blavatsky.

Helena Blavatsky

(1831 - 1891)

Ammianus Marcellinus

(c. 330 - 395)

Irish writer Colum McCann.

Colum McCann

American Congregational minister Cotton Mather.

Cotton Mather

(1663 - 1728)

American magician Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini

(1874 - 1926)

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

C.G. Jung

(1875 - 1961)

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

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

John Crowley

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

Jacobus de Voragine

(c. 1230 - 1298)

Photograph of Colin Dickey standing in front of a brick wall.

Colin Dickey

American showman P.T. Barnum.

P.T. Barnum

(1810 - 1891)

Russian writer Yuri Olesha.

Yuri Olesha

(1899 - 1960)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Portrait bust of presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer.

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)