Engraving of Scottish economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

(1723 - 1790)

Photograph of American dramatist Eugene O’Neill.

Eugene O’Neill

(1888 - 1953)

Sepia toned photograph of Lewis Carroll in a suit, reading a book

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Photograph of Scottish physician James Lowson.

James Lowson

(1866 - 1935)

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Moses Smith

(1783 - 1870)

Photograph of British writer Richard Hughes.

Richard Hughes

(1900 - 1976)

Photograph of Sri Lankan memoirist and economist Sonali Deraniyagala.

Sonali Deraniyagala

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

Painting of English privateer Woodes Rogers.

Woodes Rogers

(c. 1679 - 1732)

Photograph of American dramatist Edward Albee.

Edward Albee

(1928 - 2016)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

Photograph of American novelist Kate Chopin.

Kate Chopin

(1851 - 1904)

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

Anyte

(c. 320 BC - c. 280 BC)

Engraving of the medieval Arab traveler Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta

(1304 - c. 1369)

Photograph of English novelist Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

Photograph of American oceanographer Charles Moore.

Charles Moore

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Janet Schaw

(c. 1731 - c. 1801)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Image of Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Bashō.

Matsuo Basho

(1644 - 1694)

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

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Photograph of Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson

(1907 - 1964)

Photograph of American novelist Katherine Anne Porter.

Katherine Anne Porter

(1890 - 1980)

Photograph of West Indian poet and playwright Derek Walcott.

Derek Walcott

(1930 - 2017)

Achilles Tatius

(c. 200 - c. 250)

Jules Verne

Jules Verne

(1828 - 1905)

Engraving of Portuguese poet Luís de Camões.

Luís de Camões

(c. 1525 - 1580)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Photograph of American writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn.

Lafcadio Hearn

(1850 - 1904)

Photograph of American writer Lawrence Wright.

Lawrence Wright

Charles Sprawson

(1941 - 2020)

Photograph of American writer and naturalist Henry Beston.

Henry Beston

(1888 - 1968)

Portrait of English novelist and poet Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith

(1749 - 1806)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Photograph of French writer Guy de Maupassant.

Guy de Maupassant

(1850 - 1893)

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Color photograph of French oceanic explorer Jacques Cousteau in parka.

Jacques Cousteau

(1910 - 1997)

Photograph of English novelist John Fowles.

John Fowles

(1926 - 2005)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

Gabriel García Márquez

(1927 - 2014)

Author and journalist Caroline Alexander.

Caroline Alexander

Photograph of British explorer and surgeon G. Murray Levick.

G. Murray Levick

(1876 - 1956)

Orderic Vitalis

(1075 - c. 1142)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Engraving of William Shakespeare from the first folio edition.

William Shakespeare

(1564 - 1616)

Painting of an older Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

(1770 - 1831)

Photograph of German-English novelist W.G. Sebald.

W.G. Sebald

(1944 - 2001)

Photograph of American journalist Sebastian Junger.

Sebastian Junger

Photograph of British historian and diplomat James Bryce.

James Bryce

(1838 - 1922)

Jack Thayer

(1894 - 1945)

Photograph of traveler and writer Isabella Bird.

Isabella Bird

(1831 - 1904)

Photograph of American novelist Maggie Shipstead.

Maggie Shipstead

Engraving of Italian adventurer Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri.

Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri

(1651 - 1725)

Image of English journalist and sociologist Henry Mayhew.

Henry Mayhew

(1812 - 1887)

Photograph of African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

(1902 - 1967)

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Photograph of American writer William Langewiesche.

William Langewiesche

Photograph of former U.S. President Millard Fillmore.

Millard Fillmore

(1800 - 1874)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Black and white photograph of Polish-born English writer Joseph Conrad.

Joseph Conrad

(1857 - 1924)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Photograph of American food writer M.F.K. Fisher with cat.

M.F.K. Fisher

(1908 - 1992)

T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot

(1888 - 1965)

Black and white photograph of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva.

Marina Tsvetaeva

(1892 - 1941)

Philip Drake

(c. 1790 - c. 1857)

Engraving of Greek satirist Lucian.

Lucian

(125 - c. 180)

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

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

Painted portrait of British explorer James Cook.

James Cook

(1728 - 1779)

Photograph of English literary historian and critic Edmund Gosse.

Edmund Gosse

(1849 - 1928)

Black and white photograph of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

Robert Louis Stevenson

(1850 - 1894)

Painted portrait of Italian navigator Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus

(1451 - 1506)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Image of Japanese poet Kakinomoto Hitomaro.

Kakinomoto Hitomaro

(c. 662 - c. 708)

Manuscript image of St. Bede.

Saint Bede

(c. 673 - 735)