English author Robert Southey.

Robert Southey

(1774 - 1843)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

French theologian John Calvin.

John Calvin

(1509 - 1564)

American writer Philip Connors.

Philip Connors

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

German writer, composer, and painter E. T. A. Hoffmann.

E.T.A. Hoffmann

(1776 - 1822)

French author Émile Zola.

Émile Zola

(1840 - 1902)

Edwin Lefèvre

(1871 - 1943)

British philosopher, logician, and social critic Bertrand Russell.

Bertrand Russell

(1872 - 1970)

Color image of English novelist Charlotte Brontë with book in hand.

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Italian literary critic and novelist Umberto Eco.

Umberto Eco

(1932 - 2016)

Seated man with a large white beard wearing a dark suit

Karl Marx

(1818 - 1883)

American playwright and author David Mamet.

David Mamet

French art historian and member of the French Resistance Agnès Humbert.

Agnès Humbert

(1894 - 1963)

Louis C.K.

American animator, writer, and director Mike Judge.

Mike Judge

English cook and author Isabella Mary Beeton.

Isabella Mary Beeton

(1836 - 1865)

English writer Geoffrey Chaucer.

Geoffrey Chaucer

(c. 1342 - 1400)

American abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs.

Harriet Jacobs

(1813 - 1897)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Bust of Hesiod

Hesiod

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Professor of critical theory and cultural history Ben Kafka.

Ben Kafka

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

American writer Lydia Davis.

Lydia Davis

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Black and white photograph of a young Mark Twain with dark hair.

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Russian author Anton Chekhov.

Anton Chekhov

(1860 - 1904)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

Freelance writer and former academic ghostwriter Dave Tomar.

Dave Tomar

Ōyama Shirō

Chinese-American journalist Leslie T. Chang.

Leslie T. Chang

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Engraving of Scottish economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

(1723 - 1790)

color oil painting of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a red tunic with gray hair

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756 - 1791)

British writer Bernard Mandeville.

Bernard Mandeville

(1670 - 1733)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

American journalist Susan Orlean.

Susan Orlean

Bust of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

(121 - 180)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

American writer Theodore Dreiser.

Theodore Dreiser

(1871 - 1945)

Black and white image of English scholar, writer, and clergyman Robert Burton.

Robert Burton

(1577 - 1640)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Donovan Hohn

Polish-born French physicist Marie Curie.

Marie Curie

(1867 - 1934)

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

American writer and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich

(1941 - 2022)

Photograph of African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

(1902 - 1967)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

Photograph of Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Veblen

(1857 - 1929)

American singer and songwriter Woody Guthrie.

Woody Guthrie

(1912 - 1967)

Irish writer George Moore.

George Moore

(1852 - 1933)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

Black and white photograph of Sven Birkerts sitting in front of a bookshelf.

Sven Birkerts

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

German philosopher and music critic Theodor Adorno.

Theodor Adorno

(1903 - 1969)

Roman playwright Terence.

Terence

(c. 195 BC - c. 159 BC)

American musician Charles Mingus.

Charles Mingus

(1922 - 1979)

American poet Robert Frost.

Robert Frost

(1874 - 1963)

British author Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

(1797 - 1851)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Swiss writer, philosopher, and television presenter Alain de Botton.

Alain de Botton

American documentary filmmaker and writer Eleanor Coppola.

Eleanor Coppola

Black and white photograph of English poet and librarian Philip Larkin.

Philip Larkin

(1922 - 1985)

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

American poet Theodore Roethke.

Theodore Roethke

(1908 - 1963)

American novelist and short story writer Richard Yates.

Richard Yates

(1926 - 1992)

American author Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe

(1931 - 2018)