American newspaper commentator and author Walter Lippmann.

Walter Lippmann

(1889 - 1974)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

Bishop, polemicist, and historian Eusebius.

Eusebius

(c. 260 - c. 339)

Belgian Symbolist poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck.

Maurice Maeterlinck

(1862 - 1949)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder.

Aldus Manutius the Elder

(1449 - 1515)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

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

Lenny Bruce

(1925 - 1966)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

William Lightfoot Visscher

(1842 - 1924)

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

Toni Morrison

(1931 - 2019)

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

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

Exiled South African writer Breyten Breytenbach.

Breyten Breytenbach

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

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

Black power leader H. Rap Brown.

H. Rap Brown

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

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

American writer, computer scientist, and composer Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier

Polish American writer and academic Eva Hoffman.

Eva Hoffman

John Cheever

(1912 - 1982)

British writer Bruce Chatwin.

Bruce Chatwin

(1940 - 1989)

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

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht

(1898 - 1956)

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

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

Russian author Viktor Pelevin.

Viktor Pelevin

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

André Le Chapelain

(1174 - 1238)

Political consultant and media advisor Mandy Grunwald.

Mandy Grunwald

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

Chinese statesman Li Si.

Li Si

(c. 280 BC - c. 208 BC)

French man of letters Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot

(1713 - 1784)

Linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and editor Ben Zimmer.

Ben Zimmer

Photograph of Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

(1899 - 1986)

Italian Franciscan friar and historian Salimbene Di Adam.

Salimbene di Adam

(1221 - c. 1290)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Scottish born doctor and writer Alexander Hamilton.

Dr. Alexander Hamilton

(1712 - 1756)

Cherokee leader and newspaper editor Elias Boudinot.

Elias Boudinot

(c. 1803 - 1839)

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

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon

(1675 - 1755)

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

H.G. Wells

(1866 - 1946)

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

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

American black militant Eldridge Cleaver.

Eldridge Cleaver

(1935 - 1998)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

American linguist Arika Okrent.

Arika Okrent

Apollinaris the Younger

(c. 310 - c. 390)

Historian and novelist Philipp Blom.

Philipp Blom

American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman

(1819 - 1892)

American writer Nicholson Baker.

Nicholson Baker

Fourth President of the United States James Madison.

James Madison

(1751 - 1836)

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

(1842 - c. 1914)

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

American author and educator Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

(1880 - 1968)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

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

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 - 1860)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

(c. 1705 - 1775)

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

Epictetus

(c. 55 - c. 135)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Former chairman of the FCC Newton Minow.

Newton Minow

American novelist Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien

American author Gay Talese.

Gay Talese

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Greek geographer and historian Strabo.

Strabo

(c. 64 BC - c. 25)

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

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

American novelist Madeline Miller.

Madeline Miller

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

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

Marshall McLuhan

(1911 - 1980)

Arthur Koestler

(1905 - 1983)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

Pope Clement V.

Pope Clement V

(c. 1260 - 1314)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

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)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)