William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Hanno

(c. 520 BC - c. 470 BC)

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Pu Songling

(1640 - 1715)

Sculpture bust of legendary Greek fabulist Aesop.

Aesop

(c. 620 BC - c. 564 BC)

Photograph of British journalist and historian Frances Stonor Saunders.

Frances Stonor Saunders

Sculpture bust of Greek historian Herodotus.

Herodotus

(c. 484 BC - c. 425 BC)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

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

Albert Camus

(1913 - 1960)

Photograph of East German writer Inge Müller.

Inge Müller

(1925 - 1966)

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

T.H. White

(1906 - 1964)

Photograph of American novelist Willa Cather.

Willa Cather

(1873 - 1947)

Photograph of American novelist and writer Flannery O’Connor.

Flannery O’Connor

(1925 - 1964)

Photograph of American poet Mary Oliver.

Mary Oliver

(1935 - 2019)

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Photograph of American author Laura Hillenbrand.

Laura Hillenbrand

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

Lucius Apuleius

(c. 124 - c. 171)

Painted portrait of German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt

(1769 - 1859)

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

J.R. Ackerley

(1896 - 1967)

Aelian

(c. 170 - c. 235)

Photograph of American animation director Chuck Jones.

Chuck Jones

(1912 - 2002)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

Photograph of American novelist Mary Austin.

Mary Austin

(1868 - 1934)

Painting of Persian Muslim poet Farid ud-Din Attar.

Farid ud-Din Attar

(c. 1142 - c. 1220)

Painted portrait of English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham

(1748 - 1832)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

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

Alfred Russel Wallace

(1823 - 1913)

Photograph of Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Italo Calvino

(1923 - 1985)

Black and white image of Japanese haiku poet Kobayashi Issa.

Kobayashi Issa

(1763 - 1828)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Photograph of American biologist Edward O. Wilson.

Edward O. Wilson

Photograph of Lithuanian-born French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas.

Emmanuel Lévinas

(1905 - 1995)

Photograph of Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear.

Luther Standing Bear

(1868 - 1939)

Elizabeth Bishop

(1911 - 1979)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of American author and editor Jack Hitt.

Jack Hitt

Black and white photograph of Ryszard Kapuściński holding a book.

Ryszard Kapuściński

(1932 - 2007)

Longus

(c. 180 - c. 230)

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Photograph of Danish writer Isak Dinesen.

Isak Dinesen

(1885 - 1962)

Photograph of Native American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Photograph of British naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Gerald Durrell

(1925 - 1995)

Image of English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Photograph of American biologist Lynn Margulis.

Lynn Margulis

(1938 - 2011)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Photograph of American environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold

(1887 - 1948)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Photograph of American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan.

John Jeremiah Sullivan

Painted portrait of French poet Jean de la Fontaine.

Jean de La Fontaine

(1621 - 1695)

Photograph of American forger George Bidwell.

George Bidwell

(c. 1837 - 1899)

Ovid

(43 BC - c. 17)

Photograph of British politician and journalist Henry Du Pré Labouchère.

Henry Du Pré Labouchère

(1831 - 1912)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Painting of ornithologist and artist John James Audubon.

John James Audubon

(1785 - 1851)

Image from Codex Manesse depicting a tournament of knights.

Chrétien de Troyes

(c. 1165 - c. 1180)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Georg Ludwig Collins

(1763 - 1814)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Image of Chinese Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen.

Mei Yaochen

(1002 - 1060)

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

Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon

(1707 - 1788)

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

Beryl Markham

(1902 - 1986)

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

Bruno Schulz

(1892 - 1942)

Photograph of British novelist Patrick O'Brian.

Patrick O’Brian

(1914 - 2000)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Photograph of Native American author N. Scott Momaday.

N. Scott Momaday

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

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)

Photograph of New Yorker staff writer Burkhard Bilger.

Burkhard Bilger

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

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Photograph of Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki.

Natsume Sōseki

(1867 - 1916)