Black and white photograph of folksinger Phil Ochs.

Phil Ochs

(1940 - 1976)

Photograph of Survivor contestant Sue Hawk.

Sue Hawk

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of Egyptologist Kara Cooney.

Kara Cooney

Photograph of professor and editor Robert Boyers.

Robert Boyers

Miniature portrait of monk, musician, poet, and librarian Notker the Stammerer.

Notker the Stammerer

(c. 840 - 912)

Portrait of American general and first president George Washington.

George Washington

(1732 - 1799)

Photograph of former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Nikita Khrushchev

(1894 - 1971)

Photograph of American journalist and novelist George Packer.

George Packer

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

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

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

(1647 - 1680)

Photograph of Chinese nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen.

Sun Yat-Sen

(1866 - 1925)

Photograph of American women's rights leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

(1815 - 1902)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Photograph of author and historian H.W. Brands.

H.W. Brands

Michael Phillips-Anderson

Quintus Tullius Cicero

(c. 102 BC - 43 BC)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

Classical engraving of Aristophanes with a long beard.

Aristophanes

(c. 446 BC - c. 386 BC)

Photograph of American author Daniel Alarcón.

Daniel Alarcón

Photograph of American politician Shirley Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm

(1924 - 2005)

Photograph of Chinese dissident and memoirist Nien Cheng.

Nien Cheng

(1915 - 2009)

Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer Baldassare Castiglione.

Baldassare Castiglione

(1478 - 1529)

Black and white photograph of Mencken looking over his shoulder at the camera

H.L. Mencken

(1880 - 1956)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

Former President of the United States Richard Nixon.

Richard Nixon

(1914 - 1994)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of U.S. Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy.

Anthony Kennedy

Photograph of writer, poet, and professor George Garrett.

George Garrett

(1929 - 2008)

Classical bust of Thucydides.

Thucydides

(c. 460 BC - c. 404 BC)

Photograph of American journalist and Bolshevik sympathizer Louise Bryant.

Louise Bryant

(1885 - 1936)

Photograph of American musician, songwriter, and writer Gil Scott-Heron.

Gil Scott-Heron

(1949 - 2011)

Photograph of English socialite and Nazi sympathizer Unity Mitford.

Unity Mitford

(1914 - 1948)

Portrait of French political philosopher Montesquieu.

Montesquieu

(1689 - 1755)

Black and white photograph of African-American leader Malcolm X.

Malcolm X

(1925 - 1965)

Depiction of Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay.

William Maclay

(1737 - 1804)

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

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

Painted portrait of Native American leader Black Hawk.

Black Hawk

(1767 - 1838)

Drawing of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.

Søren Kierkegaard

(1813 - 1855)

Arrian

(c. 86 - c. 160)

Depiction of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

Ferdinand II & Isabella I

(1479 - 1504)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

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

John Adams

(1735 - 1826)

Portrait of Alexis de Tocqueville wearing a black suit and standing in front of a chair.

Alexis de Tocqueville

(1805 - 1859)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Depiction of Mughal dynasty founder Babur.

Babur

(1483 - 1530)

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

Bust of Athenian statesman Solon.

Solon

(c. 630 BC - c. 560 BC)

Black and white image of English novelist Anthony Trollope.

Anthony Trollope

(1815 - 1882)

Photograph of American politician and orator Stephen Douglas standing.

Stephen Douglas

(1813 - 1861)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Painted portrait of British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke.

Edmund Burke

(1729 - 1797)

Statue of the Persian poet Ferdowsi.

Ferdowsi

(c. 935 - c. 1020)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Artist rendering of Hindu statesman and philosopher Kautilya.

Kautilya

(c. 350 BC - c. 300 BC)

Photograph of Russian poet and critic Osip Mandelstam.

Osip Mandelstam

(1891 - 1938)

Black and white photograph of Mao Zedong with raised arm.

Mao Zedong

(1893 - 1976)

Black and white photograph of American anarchist Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman

(1869 - 1940)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Photograph of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Anna Politkovskaya

(1958 - 2006)

Painted portrait of former American first lady Abigail Adams.

Abigail Smith Adams

(1744 - 1818)

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

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

English-born American poet W. H. Auden.

W.H. Auden

(1907 - 1973)

Portrait of third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

(1743 - 1826)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Photograph of historian Anthony Grafton.

Anthony Grafton

Photograph of American historian Robert Caro.

Robert Caro

Black and white photograph of French novelist, essayist, and playwright Albert Camus.

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Photograph of New York Times East Africa Bureau Chief Jeffrey Gettleman.

Jeffrey Gettleman

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)