Photograph of German writer Patrick Süskind.

Patrick Süskind

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Black and white image of Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca the Younger.

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Photograph of African American abolitionist and U.S. diplomat Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass

(c. 1818 - 1895)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

William Biddulph

Photograph of American humorist and author David Sedaris.

David Sedaris

Photograph of journalist and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

(1836 - 1870)

Quintus Curtius Rufus

(c. 41 - c. 79)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Portrait of French writer Stendhal.

Stendhal

(1783 - 1842)

Image of French writer Honoré de Balzac with hand on chest.

Honoré de Balzac

(1799 - 1850)

Photograph of American writer William T. Vollmann.

William T. Vollmann

Depiction of chief of the Miami tribe Little Turtle.

Little Turtle

(c. 1752 - 1812)

Portrait of Anglo-Irish essayist, poet, novelist, and dramatist Oliver Goldsmith.

Oliver Goldsmith

(1730 - 1774)

Photograph of American feminist and author Anne Roiphe.

Anne Roiphe

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Image of Japanese poet Ōtomo Tabito with horse.

Ōtomo Tabito

(665 - 731)

Photograph of American author Jacqueline Susann.

Jacqueline Susann

(1921 - 1974)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Photograph of American novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler.

Raymond Chandler

(1888 - 1959)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Photograph of American comedian and film star Harpo Marx.

Harpo Marx

(1888 - 1964)

Photograph of German literary critic Walter Benjamin.

Walter Benjamin

(1892 - 1940)

Photograph of American poet Countee Cullen.

Countee Cullen

(1903 - 1946)

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

(1821 - 1867)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

Photograph of American novelist and short story writer Stephen Crane.

Stephen Crane

(1871 - 1900)

Photograph of Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.

Albert Hofmann

(1906 - 2008)

Photograph of journalist Nick Reding.

Nick Reding

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Chinese poet Li Bai seated.

Li Bai

(701 - 762)

Depiction of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford.

William Bradford

(1590 - 1657)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Portrait bust of Greek historian Xenophon.

Xenophon

(c. 430 BC - c. 351 BC)

Photograph of journalist, author, and professor Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

Portrait bust of Greek lyric poet Archilochus.

Archilochus

(c. 740 BC - 680 BC)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Photograph of American writer William S. Burroughs.

William S. Burroughs

(1914 - 1997)

Image of Scottish poet, journalist, and author Charles Mackay.

Charles Mackay

(1814 - 1889)

Photograph of American novelist Jack London.

Jack London

(1876 - 1916)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

James Joyce

(1882 - 1941)

Photograph of American writer Francine Prose.

Francine Prose

Photograph of English essayist, poet, and biographer John Addington Symonds.

John Addington Symonds

(1840 - 1893)

Photograph of literary agent and author Bill Clegg.

Bill Clegg

Photograph of British writer Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl

(1916 - 1990)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Theognis

(c. 570 BC - c. 490 BC)

Photograph of American professional baseball player Dock Ellis.

Dock Ellis

(1945 - 2008)

Depiction of Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam

(1048 - 1131)

Kingsley Amis

(1922 - 1995)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

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

Sven Birkerts

Photograph of Irish playwright and novelist Frank O'Connor.

Frank O’Connor

(1903 - 1966)

Portrait of Chinese scholar and official Lin Zexu.

Lin Zexu

(1785 - 1850)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac.

Jack Kerouac

(1922 - 1969)

Depiction of Greek lyric poet Sappho.

Sappho

(c. 610 BC - c. 570 BC)

Color portrait of the Italian writer and libertine Giacomo Casanova.

Giacomo Casanova

(1725 - 1798)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Black and white photograph of Emily Dickinson sitting next to a desk.

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Black and white photograph of French writer and film director Marguerite Duras.

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Portrait of Scottish biographer and diarist James Boswell.

James Boswell

(1740 - 1795)

Photograph of American jazz musician Art Pepper with saxophone.

Art Pepper

(1925 - 1982)

Rebecca Lemon

Portrait of English physician John Elliotson.

John Elliotson

(1791 - 1868)

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

Portrait of English lyrical poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772 - 1834)

Photograph of American author Dennis Covington.

Dennis Covington

Ernest Hemingway standing between two large hanging fish

Ernest Hemingway

(1899 - 1961)

Andy Warhol

(1928 - 1987)

Portrait of King James I.

James I

(1566 - 1625)

Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Black and white photograph of a young F. Scott Fitzgerald sitting at a desk.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(1896 - 1940)

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)