American abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs.

Harriet Jacobs

(1813 - 1897)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Louis C.K.

Engraving of Scottish economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

(1723 - 1790)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

American writer Lydia Davis.

Lydia Davis

American animator, writer, and director Mike Judge.

Mike Judge

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

American author Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe

(1931 - 2018)

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

Color image of English novelist Charlotte Brontë with book in hand.

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Ōyama Shirō

Bust of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

(121 - 180)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Russian author Anton Chekhov.

Anton Chekhov

(1860 - 1904)

British writer Bernard Mandeville.

Bernard Mandeville

(1670 - 1733)

Photograph of Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Veblen

(1857 - 1929)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

American writer and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich

(1941 - 2022)

Chinese-American journalist Leslie T. Chang.

Leslie T. Chang

English writer Geoffrey Chaucer.

Geoffrey Chaucer

(c. 1342 - 1400)

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

Bust of Hesiod

Hesiod

American playwright and author David Mamet.

David Mamet

American author, essayist, and editor Donovan Hohn.

Donovan Hohn

American poet Theodore Roethke.

Theodore Roethke

(1908 - 1963)

British philosopher, logician, and social critic Bertrand Russell.

Bertrand Russell

(1872 - 1970)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

English author Robert Southey.

Robert Southey

(1774 - 1843)

Photograph of African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

(1902 - 1967)

Black and white image of English scholar, writer, and clergyman Robert Burton.

Robert Burton

(1577 - 1640)

Seated man with a large white beard wearing a dark suit

Karl Marx

(1818 - 1883)

Italian literary critic and novelist Umberto Eco.

Umberto Eco

(1932 - 2016)

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

American writer Philip Connors.

Philip Connors

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

American documentary filmmaker and writer Eleanor Coppola.

Eleanor Coppola

Black and white photograph of Sven Birkerts sitting in front of a bookshelf.

Sven Birkerts

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Edwin Lefèvre

(1871 - 1943)

Black and white photograph of English poet and librarian Philip Larkin.

Philip Larkin

(1922 - 1985)

French art historian and member of the French Resistance Agnès Humbert.

Agnès Humbert

(1894 - 1963)

Irish writer George Moore.

George Moore

(1852 - 1933)

American writer Theodore Dreiser.

Theodore Dreiser

(1871 - 1945)

American singer and songwriter Woody Guthrie.

Woody Guthrie

(1912 - 1967)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

color oil painting of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a red tunic with gray hair

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756 - 1791)

French theologian John Calvin.

John Calvin

(1509 - 1564)

Polish-born French physicist Marie Curie.

Marie Curie

(1867 - 1934)

Roman playwright Terence.

Terence

(c. 195 BC - c. 159 BC)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

American journalist Susan Orlean.

Susan Orlean

American poet Robert Frost.

Robert Frost

(1874 - 1963)

American musician Charles Mingus.

Charles Mingus

(1922 - 1979)

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

British author Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

(1797 - 1851)

Swiss writer, philosopher, and television presenter Alain de Botton.

Alain de Botton

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

French author Émile Zola.

Émile Zola

(1840 - 1902)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

Professor of critical theory and cultural history Ben Kafka.

Ben Kafka

Freelance writer and former academic ghostwriter Dave Tomar.

Dave Tomar

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)

American novelist and short story writer Richard Yates.

Richard Yates

(1926 - 1992)

English cook and author Isabella Mary Beeton.

Isabella Mary Beeton

(1836 - 1865)

German writer, composer, and painter E. T. A. Hoffmann.

E.T.A. Hoffmann

(1776 - 1822)

German philosopher and music critic Theodor Adorno.

Theodor Adorno

(1903 - 1969)