Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)

Photograph of German literary critic Walter Benjamin.

Walter Benjamin

(1892 - 1940)

Andy Warhol

(1928 - 1987)

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

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Portrait of English lyrical poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772 - 1834)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Portrait of Chinese scholar and official Lin Zexu.

Lin Zexu

(1785 - 1850)

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

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(1896 - 1940)

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

Honoré de Balzac

(1799 - 1850)

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

(1821 - 1867)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Photograph of American writer Francine Prose.

Francine Prose

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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Portrait bust of Greek historian Xenophon.

Xenophon

(c. 430 BC - c. 351 BC)

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

John Addington Symonds

(1840 - 1893)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Photograph of American feminist and author Anne Roiphe.

Anne Roiphe

William Biddulph

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

Oliver Goldsmith

(1730 - 1774)

Theognis

(c. 570 BC - c. 490 BC)

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

Frederick Douglass

(c. 1818 - 1895)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Photograph of American novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler.

Raymond Chandler

(1888 - 1959)

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Photograph of German writer Patrick Süskind.

Patrick Süskind

Depiction of Greek lyric poet Sappho.

Sappho

(c. 610 BC - c. 570 BC)

Photograph of journalist and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

(1836 - 1870)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Photograph of American poet Countee Cullen.

Countee Cullen

(1903 - 1946)

Image of Japanese poet Ōtomo Tabito with horse.

Ōtomo Tabito

(665 - 731)

Chinese poet Li Bai seated.

Li Bai

(701 - 762)

Photograph of journalist Nick Reding.

Nick Reding

Depiction of Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam

(1048 - 1131)

Portrait bust of Greek lyric poet Archilochus.

Archilochus

(c. 740 BC - 680 BC)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

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

Sven Birkerts

Photograph of journalist, author, and professor Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Color portrait of the Italian writer and libertine Giacomo Casanova.

Giacomo Casanova

(1725 - 1798)

Photograph of American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac.

Jack Kerouac

(1922 - 1969)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Photograph of American writer William S. Burroughs.

William S. Burroughs

(1914 - 1997)

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

Photograph of American jazz musician Art Pepper with saxophone.

Art Pepper

(1925 - 1982)

Portrait of English physician John Elliotson.

John Elliotson

(1791 - 1868)

Photograph of American author Dennis Covington.

Dennis Covington

James Joyce

(1882 - 1941)

Depiction of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford.

William Bradford

(1590 - 1657)

Kingsley Amis

(1922 - 1995)

Photograph of American humorist and author David Sedaris.

David Sedaris

Photograph of literary agent and author Bill Clegg.

Bill Clegg

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)

Depiction of chief of the Miami tribe Little Turtle.

Little Turtle

(c. 1752 - 1812)

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Portrait of King James I.

James I

(1566 - 1625)

Ernest Hemingway standing between two large hanging fish

Ernest Hemingway

(1899 - 1961)

Portrait of French writer Stendhal.

Stendhal

(1783 - 1842)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

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

Sylvia Plath

(1932 - 1963)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

Photograph of American author Jacqueline Susann.

Jacqueline Susann

(1921 - 1974)

Photograph of American professional baseball player Dock Ellis.

Dock Ellis

(1945 - 2008)

Portrait of Scottish biographer and diarist James Boswell.

James Boswell

(1740 - 1795)

Quintus Curtius Rufus

(c. 41 - c. 79)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Photograph of American novelist Jack London.

Jack London

(1876 - 1916)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Photograph of Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.

Albert Hofmann

(1906 - 2008)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Rebecca Lemon

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Photograph of Irish playwright and novelist Frank O'Connor.

Frank O’Connor

(1903 - 1966)

Photograph of American comedian and film star Harpo Marx.

Harpo Marx

(1888 - 1964)

Photograph of American novelist and short story writer Stephen Crane.

Stephen Crane

(1871 - 1900)

Photograph of British writer Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl

(1916 - 1990)

Photograph of American writer William T. Vollmann.

William T. Vollmann

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

Charles Mackay

(1814 - 1889)