Depiction of Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay.

William Maclay

(1737 - 1804)

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

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

(1815 - 1902)

Photograph of American historian Robert Caro.

Robert Caro

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)

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

Alexis de Tocqueville

(1805 - 1859)

Portrait of third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

(1743 - 1826)

Photograph of writer, poet, and professor George Garrett.

George Garrett

(1929 - 2008)

Photograph of English socialite and Nazi sympathizer Unity Mitford.

Unity Mitford

(1914 - 1948)

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

Anthony Kennedy

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Black and white photograph of American anarchist Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman

(1869 - 1940)

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

Arrian

(c. 86 - c. 160)

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

John Adams

(1735 - 1826)

Photograph of historian Anthony Grafton.

Anthony Grafton

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

Depiction of Mughal dynasty founder Babur.

Babur

(1483 - 1530)

Quintus Tullius Cicero

(c. 102 BC - 43 BC)

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

Malcolm X

(1925 - 1965)

Photograph of American politician and orator Stephen Douglas standing.

Stephen Douglas

(1813 - 1861)

Painted portrait of British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke.

Edmund Burke

(1729 - 1797)

Photograph of American journalist and Bolshevik sympathizer Louise Bryant.

Louise Bryant

(1885 - 1936)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)

Michael Phillips-Anderson

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

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)

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

Notker the Stammerer

(c. 840 - 912)

Classical bust of Thucydides.

Thucydides

(c. 460 BC - c. 404 BC)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Photograph of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Anna Politkovskaya

(1958 - 2006)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Photograph of American politician Shirley Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm

(1924 - 2005)

Photograph of author and historian H.W. Brands.

H.W. Brands

Photograph of American journalist and novelist George Packer.

George Packer

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

W.H. Auden

(1907 - 1973)

Photograph of American author Daniel Alarcón.

Daniel Alarcón

Photograph of Chinese nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen.

Sun Yat-Sen

(1866 - 1925)

Photograph of Chinese dissident and memoirist Nien Cheng.

Nien Cheng

(1915 - 2009)

Black and white photograph of folksinger Phil Ochs.

Phil Ochs

(1940 - 1976)

Painted portrait of Native American leader Black Hawk.

Black Hawk

(1767 - 1838)

Portrait of American general and first president George Washington.

George Washington

(1732 - 1799)

Photograph of Survivor contestant Sue Hawk.

Sue Hawk

Portrait of French political philosopher Montesquieu.

Montesquieu

(1689 - 1755)

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)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Former President of the United States Richard Nixon.

Richard Nixon

(1914 - 1994)

Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer Baldassare Castiglione.

Baldassare Castiglione

(1478 - 1529)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Photograph of Egyptologist Kara Cooney.

Kara Cooney

Drawing of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.

Søren Kierkegaard

(1813 - 1855)

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)

Photograph of Russian poet and critic Osip Mandelstam.

Osip Mandelstam

(1891 - 1938)

Artist rendering of Hindu statesman and philosopher Kautilya.

Kautilya

(c. 350 BC - c. 300 BC)

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

H.L. Mencken

(1880 - 1956)

Statue of the Persian poet Ferdowsi.

Ferdowsi

(c. 935 - c. 1020)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

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

Jeffrey Gettleman

Photograph of professor and editor Robert Boyers.

Robert Boyers

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

Black and white photograph of Mao Zedong with raised arm.

Mao Zedong

(1893 - 1976)

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

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Nikita Khrushchev

(1894 - 1971)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

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

Gil Scott-Heron

(1949 - 2011)