British author Philip Pullman.

Philip Pullman

American author and journalist Jamie James.

Jamie James

Sculpture bust of Greek dramatist Euripides.

Euripides

(c. 484 BC - c. 406 BC)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

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

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur

(1735 - 1813)

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

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Tapestry depiction of King Arthur.

Thomas Malory

(c. 1416 - c. 1471)

American Congregational minister Cotton Mather.

Cotton Mather

(1663 - 1728)

Florentine sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini.

Benvenuto Cellini

(1500 - 1571)

Novelist and psychiatrist Daniel Mason.

Daniel Mason

English writer Christopher Marlowe.

Christopher Marlowe

(1564 - 1593)

Polish-born American writer Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Isaac Bashevis Singer

(1903 - 1991)

Irish writer Colum McCann.

Colum McCann

Yugoslav novelist Danilo Kiš.

Danilo Kiš

(1935 - 1989)

Sufi mystic and poet Rumi.

Rumi

(c. 1207 - 1273)

Irish writer Bram Stoker.

Bram Stoker

(1847 - 1912)

Photograph of American writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Scottish anthropologist and historian of religion James G. Frazer.

James G. Frazer

(1854 - 1941)

Engraving of Greek satirist Lucian.

Lucian

(125 - c. 180)

English dramatist, writer, and poet Aphra Behn.

Aphra Behn

(1640 - 1689)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Painted portrait of Scottish philosopher David Hume.

David Hume

(1711 - 1776)

American novelist and journalist Mark Helprin.

Mark Helprin

American magician Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini

(1874 - 1926)

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

Saint Augustine

(354 - 430)

Journalist and author Robert Whitaker.

Robert Whitaker

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

American showman P.T. Barnum.

P.T. Barnum

(1810 - 1891)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

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

C.G. Jung

(1875 - 1961)

British author Angela Carter.

Angela Carter

(1940 - 1992)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

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

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

(1486 - 1535)

Austrian explorer and writer Heinrich Harrer.

Heinrich Harrer

(1912 - 2006)

Statue depicting Roman orator and historian Tacitus.

Tacitus

(56 - c. 120)

American illusionist Teller.

Teller

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

American author H.P. Lovecraft.

H.P. Lovecraft

(1890 - 1937)

Gabriel García Márquez

(1927 - 2014)

Founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy.

Mary Baker Eddy

(1821 - 1910)

Portrait of English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton

(1643 - 1727)

English novelist and poet Emily Brontë.

Emily Brontë

(1818 - 1848)

Pierre de Lancre

(1553 - 1631)

Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII

(1432 - 1492)

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

John Crowley

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Ammianus Marcellinus

(c. 330 - 395)

Photograph of English novelist John Fowles.

John Fowles

(1926 - 2005)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Byzantine historian and daughter of the emperor Anna Comnena.

Anna Comnena

(1083 - c. 1153)

Neoplatonist Greek philosopher Porphyry.

Porphyry

(c. 234 - c. 305)

Spanish soldier and author Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo

(c. 1495 - 1584)

American songwriters Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller.

Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

(c. 1950 - 2011)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

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

J.R.R. Tolkien

(1892 - 1973)

French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes.

René Descartes

(1596 - 1650)

Russian writer Yuri Olesha.

Yuri Olesha

(1899 - 1960)

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

Jacobus de Voragine

(c. 1230 - 1298)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of English professor and author Andrew McConnell Stott.

Andrew McConnell Stott

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

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

Harriet Martineau

(1802 - 1876)

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

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809 - 1849)

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

(c. 1490 - c. 1560)

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

Colin Dickey

American writer John Berendt.

John Berendt

Psychologist and writer Lauren Slater.

Lauren Slater

New York Times editor Richard W. Stevenson.

Richard W. Stevenson

Russian spiritualist Helena Blavatsky.

Helena Blavatsky

(1831 - 1891)

French Benedictine monk Antoine Augustin Calmet.

Antoine Augustin Calmet

(1672 - 1757)

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Lady Sarashina

(c. 1008 - c. 1059)