Painted portrait of Scottish philosopher David Hume.

David Hume

(1711 - 1776)

Saint Augustine (detail), by Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1645.

Saint Augustine

(354 - 430)

American showman P.T. Barnum.

P.T. Barnum

(1810 - 1891)

American songwriters Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller.

Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

(c. 1950 - 2011)

Ammianus Marcellinus

(c. 330 - 395)

Scottish anthropologist and historian of religion James G. Frazer.

James G. Frazer

(1854 - 1941)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

American novelist and journalist Mark Helprin.

Mark Helprin

Spanish soldier and author Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo

(c. 1495 - 1584)

Austrian explorer and writer Heinrich Harrer.

Heinrich Harrer

(1912 - 2006)

German magician, occult writer, and theologian Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

(1486 - 1535)

English novelist and poet Emily Brontë.

Emily Brontë

(1818 - 1848)

Photograph of American writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904)

French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes.

René Descartes

(1596 - 1650)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

Detail of mural featuring Jacobus de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa and chronicler.

Jacobus de Voragine

(c. 1230 - 1298)

Portrait of English-American writer and polemicist Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

British author Philip Pullman.

Philip Pullman

English writer Christopher Marlowe.

Christopher Marlowe

(1564 - 1593)

Photograph of Colin Dickey standing in front of a brick wall.

Colin Dickey

Russian writer Yuri Olesha.

Yuri Olesha

(1899 - 1960)

French Benedictine monk Antoine Augustin Calmet.

Antoine Augustin Calmet

(1672 - 1757)

Photograph of English professor and author Andrew McConnell Stott.

Andrew McConnell Stott

Portrait of English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton

(1643 - 1727)

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Russian spiritualist Helena Blavatsky.

Helena Blavatsky

(1831 - 1891)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Lady Sarashina

(c. 1008 - c. 1059)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Irish writer Bram Stoker.

Bram Stoker

(1847 - 1912)

Psychologist and writer Lauren Slater.

Lauren Slater

English dramatist, writer, and poet Aphra Behn.

Aphra Behn

(1640 - 1689)

Black and white photograph of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung seated with legs crossed.

C.G. Jung

(1875 - 1961)

Depiction of Chinese philosopher Mozi.

Mozi

(c. 470 BC - c. 391 BC)

Sculpture bust of Greek dramatist Euripides.

Euripides

(c. 484 BC - c. 406 BC)

British author Angela Carter.

Angela Carter

(1940 - 1992)

Pierre de Lancre

(1553 - 1631)

Irish writer Colum McCann.

Colum McCann

American author and journalist Jamie James.

Jamie James

English writer and scholar J.R.R. Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien

(1892 - 1973)

Black and white photograph of American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath.

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Yugoslav novelist Danilo Kiš.

Danilo Kiš

(1935 - 1989)

Founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy.

Mary Baker Eddy

(1821 - 1910)

Gabriel García Márquez

(1927 - 2014)

New York Times editor Richard W. Stevenson.

Richard W. Stevenson

American author H.P. Lovecraft.

H.P. Lovecraft

(1890 - 1937)

Neoplatonist Greek philosopher Porphyry.

Porphyry

(c. 234 - c. 305)

Tapestry depiction of King Arthur.

Thomas Malory

(c. 1416 - c. 1471)

American magician Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini

(1874 - 1926)

English essayist, novelist, journalist, and historian Harriet Martineau.

Harriet Martineau

(1802 - 1876)

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

Journalist and author Robert Whitaker.

Robert Whitaker

Statue depicting Roman orator and historian Tacitus.

Tacitus

(56 - c. 120)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

Photograph of German sociologist and political economist Max Weber.

Max Weber

(1864 - 1920)

Sufi mystic and poet Rumi.

Rumi

(c. 1207 - 1273)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Engraving of Greek satirist Lucian.

Lucian

(125 - c. 180)

American Congregational minister Cotton Mather.

Cotton Mather

(1663 - 1728)

Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII

(1432 - 1492)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

American illusionist Teller.

Teller

French-American author J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur.

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur

(1735 - 1813)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

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

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

American writer John Berendt.

John Berendt

Photograph of English novelist John Fowles.

John Fowles

(1926 - 2005)

Florentine sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini.

Benvenuto Cellini

(1500 - 1571)

Photograph of American short-story writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809 - 1849)

Byzantine historian and daughter of the emperor Anna Comnena.

Anna Comnena

(1083 - c. 1153)

Polish-born American writer Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Isaac Bashevis Singer

(1903 - 1991)

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

(c. 1490 - c. 1560)

Novelist and psychiatrist Daniel Mason.

Daniel Mason

Black and white photograph of John Crowley sitting on a porch.

John Crowley