Black and white photograph of prominent communist figure Ernesto Che Guevara.

Ernesto Che Guevara

(1828 - 1967)

Black and white photograph of American inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

Thomas Alva Edison

(1847 - 1931)

Color painting early Chinese philosopher Mengzi.

Mengzi

(c. 371 BC - c. 289 BC)

Color photograph of writer and editor Garret Keizer.

Garret Keizer

Black and white photograph of American revolutionary writer and activist John Reed.

John Reed

(1887 - 1920)

Black and white photograph of German revolutionary, economist, sociologist, and historian Karl Marx.

Karl Marx

(1818 - 1883)

Black and white photograph of historian and man of letters Henry Adams.

Henry Adams

(1838 - 1918)

Black and white photograph of Russian revolutionary Sergei Nechaev.

Sergei Nechaev

(1847 - 1882)

Portrait of claimant to English throne James Scott, Duke of Monmouth.

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth

(1649 - 1685)

Black and white photograph of Cuban poet, patriot, and martyr José Martí.

José Martí

(1853 - 1895)

Black and white photograph of former U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer with hands in pockets.

A. Mitchell Palmer

(1872 - 1936)

Painted portrait of former American first lady Abigail Adams.

Abigail Smith Adams

(1744 - 1818)

Color photograph of Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

Naguib Mahfouz

(1911 - 2006)

Black and white photograph of American birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger.

Margaret Sanger

(1879 - 1966)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Image of South Carolina secession leader David Flavel Jamison.

David Flavel Jamison

(1810 - 1864)

Photograph of Joan Didion

Joan Didion

Woody Allen in thick black rim glasses

Woody Allen

Painted portrait of French anarchist and journalist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

(1809 - 1865)

Black and white photograph of E. B. White sitting at his typewriter with his dachshund.

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Photograph of British cleric Samuel Wilberforce.

Samuel Wilberforce

(1805 - 1873)

Color photograph of British historian Orlando Figes.

Orlando Figes

Color photograph of American writer Deb Olin Unferth.

Deb Olin Unferth

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Ba Bulleh Shah

(1680 - 1757)

Color photograph of German novelist Peter Schneider.

Peter Schneider

Portrait of King George III in military dress.

King George III

(1738 - 1820)

Russian revolutionary and writer Victor Serge.

Victor Serge

(1890 - 1947)

Color photograph of British playwright, novelist, and translator Michael Frayn.

Michael Frayn

Black and white photograph of Mao Zedong with raised arm.

Mao Zedong

(1893 - 1976)

Black and white photograph of a young John Ruskin wearing a suit.

John Ruskin

(1819 - 1900)

Black and white photograph of psychologist and LSD advocate Timothy Leary.

Timothy Leary

(1920 - 1996)

Photograph of Tunisian poet Abul-Qasim Al-Shabbi.

Abul-Qasim Al-Shabbi

(1909 - 1934)

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

Color photograph of author David Graeber wearing a t-shirt.

David Graeber

Painting of William Wordsworth.

William Wordsworth

(1770 - 1850)

Photograph of Egyptian writer Yasmine El Rashidi.

Yasmine El Rashidi

Portrait of South American soldier and statesman Simón Bolívar.

Simón Bolívar

(1783 - 1830)

Portrait of communist theorist and agitator Leon Trotsky.

Leon Trotsky

(1879 - 1940)

Black and white photograph of Czech writer Karel Čapek.

Karel Čapek

(1890 - 1938)

Black and white photograph of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva.

Marina Tsvetaeva

(1892 - 1941)

Portrait of Pope Gregory XIII seated.

Pope Gregory XIII

(1502 - 1585)

Black and white photograph of Irish poet and writer W. B. Yeats.

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Black and white photograph of West-Indian-born civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael.

Stokely Carmichael

(1941 - 1998)

Color image of French philosopher Auguste Comte.

Auguste Comte

(1798 - 1857)

Portrait of British poet Lord Byron.

Lord Byron

(1788 - 1824)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)

Portrait of third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

(1743 - 1826)

Black and white photograph of former chancellor and Führer of Germany Adolf Hitler.

Adolf Hitler

(1889 - 1945)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Color photograph of writer Nicholas Carr.

Nicholas Carr

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803 - 1882)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Statue of French medieval poet and historian Jean Froissart.

Jean Froissart

(c. 1337 - c. 1405)

Black and white photograph of French writer Victor Hugo.

Victor Hugo

(1802 - 1885)

Black and white photograph of former Democratic Republic of Vietnam president Ho Chi Minh.

Ho Chi Minh

(1890 - 1969)

Black and white photograph of Argentine writer Julio Cortázar.

Julio Cortázar

(1914 - 1984)

Color photograph of Czech playwright, poet, and political dissident Václav Havel.

Václav Havel

(1936 - 2011)

black and white photo of James Thurber lighting a cigarette in the new york times office

James Thurber

(1894 - 1961)

Black and white photograph of French man of letters Anatole France.

Anatole France

(1844 - 1924)

Self-portrait of French artist Jacques-Louis David.

Jacques-Louis David

(1748 - 1825)

Painted portrait of British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke.

Edmund Burke

(1729 - 1797)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

Color portrait of English philosopher John Locke.

John Locke

(1632 - 1704)

Bust of Chinese astronomer and high official Shen Kuo.

Shen Kuo

(1031 - 1095)

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

John Adams

(1735 - 1826)

Portrait of English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton

(1643 - 1727)

At the age of seventeen, Hawthorne mused to his mother about the possibility of “relying for support upon my pen.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804 - 1864)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Engraving of Roman author and administrator Pliny the Younger.

Pliny the Younger

(61 - 112)

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

Hannah Arendt

(1906 - 1975)

Color portrait of French radical Jacobin leader Maximilien de Robespierre.

Maximilien de Robespierre

(1758 - 1794)

Black and white photograph of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud with cigar.

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Black and white photograph of Italian artist Giacomo Balla.

Giacomo Balla

(1871 - 1958)

Black and white photograph of American anarchist Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman

(1869 - 1940)

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

Black and white photograph of French poet Guillaume Apollinaire.

Guillaume Apollinaire

(1880 - 1918)

Appian of Alexandria

(c. 95 - c. 165)

Black and white photograph of French mystic, philosopher, and activist Simone Weil.

Simone Weil

(1909 - 1943)

Finck was a music critic for The Nation and the New York Evening Post from 1881 to 1924.

Henry T. Finck

(1854 - 1926)

Black and white photograph of Polish-born German revolutionary and agitator Rosa Luxemburg.

Rosa Luxemburg

(1871 - 1919)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)