Pastel drawing of George Eliot.

George Eliot

(1819 - 1880)

Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes.

Miguel de Cervantes

(1547 - 1616)

Image of French poet François Villon.

François Villon

(1431 - c. 1463)

Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto.

Ludovico Ariosto

(1474 - 1533)

British writer Muriel Spark.

Muriel Spark

(1918 - 2006)

Painted portrait of second President of the United States John Adams.

John Adams

(1735 - 1826)

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

black and white photo of Steve Martin wearing a white dinner jacket and black tie

Steve Martin

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

English essayist, poet, and dramatist Joseph Addison.

Joseph Addison

(1672 - 1719)

American poet John Berryman.

John Berryman

(1914 - 1972)

American musician, songwriter, and co-founder of Mötley Crüe Nikki Sixx.

Nikki Sixx

Bob Dylan

British beauty and actress Lillie Langtry.

Lillie Langtry

(1853 - 1929)

Italian Christian theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas.

Thomas Aquinas

(c. 1224 - 1274)

American poet Frank O’Hara.

Frank O’Hara

(1926 - 1966)

American critic Edmund Wilson.

Edmund Wilson

(1895 - 1972)

Black and white photograph of American writer and exponent of Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803 - 1882)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

American assassin John Hinckley Jr.

John Hinckley Jr.

English writer Christopher Marlowe.

Christopher Marlowe

(1564 - 1593)

Yugoslav novelist Danilo Kiš.

Danilo Kiš

(1935 - 1989)

Sepia colored photo of Oscar Wilde sitting on a rock with a book in his hand

Oscar Wilde

(1854 - 1900)

American writer Tad Friend.

Tad Friend

American social reformer Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

(1823 - 1911)

Juvenal

(c. 60 - c. 130)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Painted portrait of British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke.

Edmund Burke

(1729 - 1797)

Photograph of American writer and professor Paul Collins.

Paul Collins

American writer Philip Roth.

Philip Roth

(1933 - 2018)

German poet Heinrich Heine.

Heinrich Heine

(1797 - 1856)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

American historian Daniel Boorstin.

Daniel Boorstin

(1914 - 2004)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

James Baldwin

(1924 - 1987)

Portrait of English wit and poet John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester with monkey.

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

(1647 - 1680)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Image of Scottish poet, journalist, and author Charles Mackay.

Charles Mackay

(1814 - 1889)

English poet and satirist Alexander Pope.

Alexander Pope

(1688 - 1744)

American author Truman Capote.

Truman Capote

(1924 - 1984)

Italian poet and scholar Giovanni Boccaccio.

Giovanni Boccaccio

(1313 - 1375)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Ur-Nammu

(2112 BC - 2095 BC)

British scholar and military officer T.E. Lawrence.

T.E. Lawrence

(1888 - 1935)

French poet and author Christine de Pisan.

Christine de Pisan

(1364 - c. 1430)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

American songwriters Burt Bacharach & Hal David.

Burt Bacharach & Hal David

American author Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe

(1931 - 2018)

Black and white photograph of Emily Dickinson sitting next to a desk.

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Italian artist and author Giorgio Vasari.

Giorgio Vasari

(1511 - 1574)

American non-fiction writer David Samuels.

David Samuels

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

(1667 - 1745)

Arrian

(c. 86 - c. 160)

Photograph of Marcel Proust looking pensive.

Marcel Proust

(1871 - 1922)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

American showman P.T. Barnum.

P.T. Barnum

(1810 - 1891)

British surgeon Frederick Treves.

Fredrick Treves

(1853 - 1923)

French critic Roland Barthes.

Roland Barthes

(1915 - 1980)

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

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

American aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh

(1902 - 1974)

American writer Saul Bellow.

Saul Bellow

(1915 - 2005)

American novelist John Dos Passos.

John Dos Passos

(1896 - 1970)

Photograph of William Faulkner sitting in a chair.

William Faulkner

(1897 - 1962)

Andy Warhol

(1928 - 1987)

Engraving of Roman author and administrator Pliny the Younger.

Pliny the Younger

(61 - 112)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Portrait of English writer Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Wollstonecraft

(1759 - 1797)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

English poet, novelist, and classicist Robert Graves.

Robert Graves

(1895 - 1985)

Black and white photograph of political scientist and philosopher Hannah Arendt holding a cigarette.

Hannah Arendt

(1906 - 1975)

Canadian writer Stephen Marche.

Stephen Marche

French writer, critic, and book publisher Edmond de Goncourt.

Edmond Goncourt

(1822 - 1896)

John Lennon

(1940 - 1980)

American poet Wallace Stevens.

Wallace Stevens

(1879 - 1955)

American television critic Emily Nussbaum.

Emily Nussbaum

Suetonius

(69 - c. 130)

British historian Edward Gibbon.

Edward Gibbon

(1737 - 1794)

American critic, poet, and resident of Norway Bruce Bawer.

Bruce Bawer

John Tresch

Portrait of British poet Lord Byron.

Lord Byron

(1788 - 1824)

Black and white photograph of a young F. Scott Fitzgerald sitting at a desk.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(1896 - 1940)

American author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry Charles Baxter.

Charles Baxter

Chinese American writer Yiyun Li.

Yiyun Li

William Makepeace Thackeray

(1811 - 1863)

Dio Cassius

(c. 150 - 235)

Valerius Maximus

(c. 20 BC - c. 50 BC)

New York-based author Suketu Mehta.

Suketu Mehta

Photograph of English professor and author Andrew McConnell Stott.

Andrew McConnell Stott

English Canadian author Tom Rachman.

Tom Rachman

American actor, screenwriter, and producer Matt Damon.

Matt Damon

Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)