Black and white image of English novelist Anthony Trollope.

Anthony Trollope

(1815 - 1882)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Photograph of writer, poet, and professor George Garrett.

George Garrett

(1929 - 2008)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Photograph of professor and editor Robert Boyers.

Robert Boyers

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

H.L. Mencken

(1880 - 1956)

Depiction of Mughal dynasty founder Babur.

Babur

(1483 - 1530)

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

John Adams

(1735 - 1826)

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

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

(1815 - 1902)

Photograph of American politician and orator Stephen Douglas standing.

Stephen Douglas

(1813 - 1861)

Statue of the Persian poet Ferdowsi.

Ferdowsi

(c. 935 - c. 1020)

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

Gil Scott-Heron

(1949 - 2011)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

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

Alexis de Tocqueville

(1805 - 1859)

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

Malcolm X

(1925 - 1965)

Former President of the United States Richard Nixon.

Richard Nixon

(1914 - 1994)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

Painted portrait of Native American leader Black Hawk.

Black Hawk

(1767 - 1838)

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

Drawing of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.

Søren Kierkegaard

(1813 - 1855)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

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

Anthony Kennedy

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

Jeffrey Gettleman

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

Ferdinand II & Isabella I

(1479 - 1504)

Classical engraving of Aristophanes with a long beard.

Aristophanes

(c. 446 BC - c. 386 BC)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Photograph of Russian poet and critic Osip Mandelstam.

Osip Mandelstam

(1891 - 1938)

Black and white photograph of American anarchist Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman

(1869 - 1940)

Photograph of Survivor contestant Sue Hawk.

Sue Hawk

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Michael Phillips-Anderson

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Photograph of English socialite and Nazi sympathizer Unity Mitford.

Unity Mitford

(1914 - 1948)

Photograph of author and historian H.W. Brands.

H.W. Brands

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Painted portrait of former American first lady Abigail Adams.

Abigail Smith Adams

(1744 - 1818)

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

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

(1647 - 1680)

Portrait of French political philosopher Montesquieu.

Montesquieu

(1689 - 1755)

Photograph of Chinese nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen.

Sun Yat-Sen

(1866 - 1925)

Photograph of former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Nikita Khrushchev

(1894 - 1971)

Portrait of third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

(1743 - 1826)

Photograph of American historian Robert Caro.

Robert Caro

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

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

Notker the Stammerer

(c. 840 - 912)

Photograph of historian Anthony Grafton.

Anthony Grafton

Black and white photograph of Mao Zedong with raised arm.

Mao Zedong

(1893 - 1976)

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)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

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

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Photograph of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Anna Politkovskaya

(1958 - 2006)

Photograph of American politician Shirley Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm

(1924 - 2005)

Quintus Tullius Cicero

(c. 102 BC - 43 BC)

Photograph of Chinese dissident and memoirist Nien Cheng.

Nien Cheng

(1915 - 2009)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)

Photograph of American author Daniel Alarcón.

Daniel Alarcón

Bust of Athenian statesman Solon.

Solon

(c. 630 BC - c. 560 BC)

Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer Baldassare Castiglione.

Baldassare Castiglione

(1478 - 1529)

Classical bust of Thucydides.

Thucydides

(c. 460 BC - c. 404 BC)

Photograph of Egyptologist Kara Cooney.

Kara Cooney

English-born American poet W. H. Auden.

W.H. Auden

(1907 - 1973)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Portrait of American general and first president George Washington.

George Washington

(1732 - 1799)

Artist rendering of Hindu statesman and philosopher Kautilya.

Kautilya

(c. 350 BC - c. 300 BC)

Painted portrait of British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke.

Edmund Burke

(1729 - 1797)

Black and white photograph of folksinger Phil Ochs.

Phil Ochs

(1940 - 1976)

Photograph of American journalist and Bolshevik sympathizer Louise Bryant.

Louise Bryant

(1885 - 1936)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

Arrian

(c. 86 - c. 160)

Photograph of American journalist and novelist George Packer.

George Packer