John Cheever

(1912 - 1982)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Belgian Symbolist poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck.

Maurice Maeterlinck

(1862 - 1949)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

American writer Nicholson Baker.

Nicholson Baker

Pope Clement V.

Pope Clement V

(c. 1260 - 1314)

Russian author Viktor Pelevin.

Viktor Pelevin

Toni Morrison

(1931 - 2019)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Black and white photograph of Friedrich Nietzsche with a huge mustache.

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder.

Aldus Manutius the Elder

(1449 - 1515)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Black and white photograph of a young Marshall McLuhan with a think mustache.

Marshall McLuhan

(1911 - 1980)

Color engraving of Italian poet, scholar, and humanist Petrarch.

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

Scottish born doctor and writer Alexander Hamilton.

Dr. Alexander Hamilton

(1712 - 1756)

American novelist Madeline Miller.

Madeline Miller

Linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and editor Ben Zimmer.

Ben Zimmer

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

(1842 - c. 1914)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

American linguist Arika Okrent.

Arika Okrent

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Bishop, polemicist, and historian Eusebius.

Eusebius

(c. 260 - c. 339)

Political consultant and media advisor Mandy Grunwald.

Mandy Grunwald

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Exiled South African writer Breyten Breytenbach.

Breyten Breytenbach

American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman

(1819 - 1892)

American author and educator Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

(1880 - 1968)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

American novelist Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien

Black and white photo of Lenny Bruce being frisked by an officer

Lenny Bruce

(1925 - 1966)

Italian Franciscan friar and historian Salimbene Di Adam.

Salimbene di Adam

(1221 - c. 1290)

Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

Polish American writer and academic Eva Hoffman.

Eva Hoffman

Soldier and writer Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon.

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon

(1675 - 1755)

Portrait of young Arthur Schopenhauer wearing a brown suit and a cravat.

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 - 1860)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht

(1898 - 1956)

Historian and novelist Philipp Blom.

Philipp Blom

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

Flann O'Brien in an overcoat standing next to a Dublin Diversion sign

Flann O’Brien

(1911 - 1966)

William Lightfoot Visscher

(1842 - 1924)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

Former chairman of the FCC Newton Minow.

Newton Minow

American author Gay Talese.

Gay Talese

Photograph of Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

(1899 - 1986)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

Greek geographer and historian Strabo.

Strabo

(c. 64 BC - c. 25)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

André Le Chapelain

(1174 - 1238)

French man of letters Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot

(1713 - 1784)

American writer, computer scientist, and composer Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

Cherokee leader and newspaper editor Elias Boudinot.

Elias Boudinot

(c. 1803 - 1839)

Arthur Koestler

(1905 - 1983)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Black and white photograph of a young H.G. Wells with a mustache.

H.G. Wells

(1866 - 1946)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

(c. 1705 - 1775)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Engraving of a bearded man seated with a crutch and writing at a desk

Epictetus

(c. 55 - c. 135)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Sepia toned photograph of Lewis Carroll in a suit, reading a book

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

American newspaper commentator and author Walter Lippmann.

Walter Lippmann

(1889 - 1974)

German Nazi leader Martin Bormann.

Martin Bormann

(1900 - 1945)

Color photograph of Oliver Sacks with a white beard and glasses.

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

Black and white photograph of E. B. White sitting at his typewriter with his dachshund.

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

Fourth President of the United States James Madison.

James Madison

(1751 - 1836)

American black militant Eldridge Cleaver.

Eldridge Cleaver

(1935 - 1998)

Apollinaris the Younger

(c. 310 - c. 390)

Chinese statesman Li Si.

Li Si

(c. 280 BC - c. 208 BC)

British writer Bruce Chatwin.

Bruce Chatwin

(1940 - 1989)

Portrait of Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Black power leader H. Rap Brown.

H. Rap Brown