Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

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

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Cherokee leader and newspaper editor Elias Boudinot.

Elias Boudinot

(c. 1803 - 1839)

German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht

(1898 - 1956)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

American novelist Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

Black power leader H. Rap Brown.

H. Rap Brown

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

British writer Bruce Chatwin.

Bruce Chatwin

(1940 - 1989)

Linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and editor Ben Zimmer.

Ben Zimmer

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

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Apollinaris the Younger

(c. 310 - c. 390)

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

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

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

German Nazi leader Martin Bormann.

Martin Bormann

(1900 - 1945)

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

Flann O’Brien

(1911 - 1966)

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

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

American writer, computer scientist, and composer Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier

American author Gay Talese.

Gay Talese

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

(1842 - c. 1914)

Bishop, polemicist, and historian Eusebius.

Eusebius

(c. 260 - c. 339)

André Le Chapelain

(1174 - 1238)

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

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

American newspaper commentator and author Walter Lippmann.

Walter Lippmann

(1889 - 1974)

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman

(1819 - 1892)

French man of letters Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot

(1713 - 1784)

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

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

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

Lenny Bruce

(1925 - 1966)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Fourth President of the United States James Madison.

James Madison

(1751 - 1836)

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

H.G. Wells

(1866 - 1946)

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

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 - 1860)

Scottish born doctor and writer Alexander Hamilton.

Dr. Alexander Hamilton

(1712 - 1756)

Photograph of Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

(1899 - 1986)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

Greek geographer and historian Strabo.

Strabo

(c. 64 BC - c. 25)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Arthur Koestler

(1905 - 1983)

American black militant Eldridge Cleaver.

Eldridge Cleaver

(1935 - 1998)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Belgian Symbolist poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck.

Maurice Maeterlinck

(1862 - 1949)

American linguist Arika Okrent.

Arika Okrent

American novelist Madeline Miller.

Madeline Miller

Chinese statesman Li Si.

Li Si

(c. 280 BC - c. 208 BC)

Russian author Viktor Pelevin.

Viktor Pelevin

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Polish American writer and academic Eva Hoffman.

Eva Hoffman

American writer Nicholson Baker.

Nicholson Baker

Exiled South African writer Breyten Breytenbach.

Breyten Breytenbach

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

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

Epictetus

(c. 55 - c. 135)

Toni Morrison

(1931 - 2019)

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder.

Aldus Manutius the Elder

(1449 - 1515)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

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

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

Pope Clement V.

Pope Clement V

(c. 1260 - 1314)

American author and educator Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

(1880 - 1968)

Political consultant and media advisor Mandy Grunwald.

Mandy Grunwald

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

(c. 1705 - 1775)

Italian Franciscan friar and historian Salimbene Di Adam.

Salimbene di Adam

(1221 - c. 1290)

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

Marshall McLuhan

(1911 - 1980)

John Cheever

(1912 - 1982)

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

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon

(1675 - 1755)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

Former chairman of the FCC Newton Minow.

Newton Minow

William Lightfoot Visscher

(1842 - 1924)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Historian and novelist Philipp Blom.

Philipp Blom