Lewis Thomas

(1913 - 1993)

Shi Daonan

(1765 - 1792)

Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri

(1279 - 1333)

Jean-Antoine-François Ozanam

(1773 - 1837)

Ibn al-Wardi

(1290 - 1349)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of American writer Francine Prose.

Francine Prose

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

Black and white photograph of Czech writer Karel Čapek.

Karel Čapek

(1890 - 1938)

Adam Levin

(1969 - 2019)

Black and white photograph of German novelist and essayist Thomas Mann.

Thomas Mann

(1875 - 1955)

Pastel drawing of George Eliot.

George Eliot

(1819 - 1880)

Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)

John Graunt

(1620 - 1674)

Photograph of American novelist Katherine Anne Porter.

Katherine Anne Porter

(1890 - 1980)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

David Wojnarowicz

(1954 - 1992)

Colorized engraving of Voltaire wearing a wig.

Voltaire

(1694 - 1778)

Karl Taro Greenfeld

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

John Howard

(c. 1726 - c. 1785)

Sylvia Townsend Warner

Sylvia Townsend Warner

(1893 - 1978)

Bernardino de Sahagún

Bernardino de Sahagún

(c. 1500 - c. 1590)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

A portrait of Alessandro Manzoni.

Alessandro Manzoni

(1785 - 1873)

Ryokan

(1758 - 1831)

Vitruvius

(c. 80 BC - 15 BC)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Photograph of Mike Jay by Shelley O’Neil

Mike Jay

Sheri Fink

Thomas Nashe

Thomas Nashe

(1567 - c. 1601)

Old Pierre

James C. Scott

English diarist and naval administrator Samuel Pepys.

Samuel Pepys

(1633 - 1703)

Seal of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

James Johnson

Noah Webster

(1758 - 1843)

Carlo M. Cipolla

(1922 - 2000)

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

Harriet Martineau

(1802 - 1876)

Photograph of Namwali Serpell by Slowking4

Namwali Serpell

Béroul

(c. 1160 - c. 1213)

Photograph of S. Josephine Baker

S. Josephine Baker

(1873 - 1945)

Gene Tierney

(1920 - 1991)

Richard Preston

Carlo Ginzburg

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Bernabò Visconti

(1323 - 1385)

Ellen Bryant Voigt

Ai Fen

Grey Gowrie

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Ahmed Ali

(1910 - 1994)

German poet Heinrich Heine.

Heinrich Heine

(1797 - 1856)

Hans Zinsser

(1878 - 1940)

Sun Simiao

(c. 581 - c. 682)

Photograph of American novelist Jack London.

Jack London

(1876 - 1916)

Charles Maclean

(c. 1765 - c. 1825)

Margaret Cavendish

(1623 - 1673)

Ibn al-Khatib

(1313 - 1374)

Catherine Johnson

(c. 1844 - c. 1920)

Barbara Tuchman

(1912 - 1989)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Travis Chi Wing Lau

Morita Morimasa

(1667 - 1732)

Depiction of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford.

William Bradford

(1590 - 1657)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

British author Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

(1797 - 1851)

Larry McMurtry

(1936 - 2021)