Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Photograph of English novelist and satirist T. H. White.

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Photograph of Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear.

Luther Standing Bear

(1868 - 1939)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Photograph of British humanist, naturalist, and critic Alfred Russel Wallace.

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)

Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Painted portrait of French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon.

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Painting of Benjamin Franklin reading a batch of papers next to a classical bust.

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

Photograph of pilot, horse trainer, writer, and adventurer Beryl Markham on horseback.

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Photograph of English art critic, novelist, and painter John Berger.

John Berger

(1926 - 2017)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Photograph of British novelist and editor J.R. Ackerley with dog.

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Image of Platonic philosopher, rhetorician, and author Lucius Apuleius.

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Black and white photograph of German-language writer Franz Kafka.

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Photograph of New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger.

Burkhard Bilger

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

Photograph of Polish writer, artist, teacher, and critic Bruno Schulz.

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Photograph of American poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)