Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

Photograph of literary agent and author Bill Clegg.

Bill Clegg

Quintus Curtius Rufus

(c. 41 - c. 79)

Chinese poet Li Bai seated.

Li Bai

(701 - 762)

Depiction of Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam

(1048 - 1131)

Photograph of American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac.

Jack Kerouac

(1922 - 1969)

Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)

Photograph of American writer Francine Prose.

Francine Prose

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Rebecca Lemon

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

Sven Birkerts

Depiction of chief of the Miami tribe Little Turtle.

Little Turtle

(c. 1752 - 1812)

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Portrait of Chinese scholar and official Lin Zexu.

Lin Zexu

(1785 - 1850)

Photograph of German literary critic Walter Benjamin.

Walter Benjamin

(1892 - 1940)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Photograph of American author Jacqueline Susann.

Jacqueline Susann

(1921 - 1974)

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

Photograph of journalist, author, and professor Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Photograph of American poet Countee Cullen.

Countee Cullen

(1903 - 1946)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Photograph of British writer Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl

(1916 - 1990)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Photograph of journalist Nick Reding.

Nick Reding

Depiction of Greek lyric poet Sappho.

Sappho

(c. 610 BC - c. 570 BC)

Portrait of King James I.

James I

(1566 - 1625)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Theognis

(c. 570 BC - c. 490 BC)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

Portrait of English lyrical poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772 - 1834)

Photograph of American professional baseball player Dock Ellis.

Dock Ellis

(1945 - 2008)

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

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

William Biddulph

Photograph of German writer Patrick Süskind.

Patrick Süskind

Depiction of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford.

William Bradford

(1590 - 1657)

Photograph of American novelist Jack London.

Jack London

(1876 - 1916)

Photograph of American writer William T. Vollmann.

William T. Vollmann

Portrait bust of Greek historian Xenophon.

Xenophon

(c. 430 BC - c. 351 BC)

Color portrait of the Italian writer and libertine Giacomo Casanova.

Giacomo Casanova

(1725 - 1798)

Photograph of American jazz musician Art Pepper with saxophone.

Art Pepper

(1925 - 1982)

Portrait of English physician John Elliotson.

John Elliotson

(1791 - 1868)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Photograph of American writer William S. Burroughs.

William S. Burroughs

(1914 - 1997)

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

(1821 - 1867)

Image of Japanese poet Ōtomo Tabito with horse.

Ōtomo Tabito

(665 - 731)

Kingsley Amis

(1922 - 1995)

James Joyce

(1882 - 1941)

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

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(1896 - 1940)

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

John Addington Symonds

(1840 - 1893)

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

Oliver Goldsmith

(1730 - 1774)

Photograph of Irish playwright and novelist Frank O'Connor.

Frank O’Connor

(1903 - 1966)

Photograph of Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.

Albert Hofmann

(1906 - 2008)

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

Charles Mackay

(1814 - 1889)

Photograph of American comedian and film star Harpo Marx.

Harpo Marx

(1888 - 1964)

Photograph of journalist and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

(1836 - 1870)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

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

Honoré de Balzac

(1799 - 1850)

Photograph of American humorist and author David Sedaris.

David Sedaris

Portrait of Scottish biographer and diarist James Boswell.

James Boswell

(1740 - 1795)

Ernest Hemingway standing between two large hanging fish

Ernest Hemingway

(1899 - 1961)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Portrait of French writer Stendhal.

Stendhal

(1783 - 1842)

Photograph of American novelist and short story writer Stephen Crane.

Stephen Crane

(1871 - 1900)

Andy Warhol

(1928 - 1987)

Photograph of American novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler.

Raymond Chandler

(1888 - 1959)

Photograph of American feminist and author Anne Roiphe.

Anne Roiphe

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Portrait bust of Greek lyric poet Archilochus.

Archilochus

(c. 740 BC - 680 BC)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)

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

Frederick Douglass

(c. 1818 - 1895)

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

Photograph of American author Dennis Covington.

Dennis Covington