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

W.B. Yeats

(1865 - 1939)

Ernest Hemingway standing between two large hanging fish

Ernest Hemingway

(1899 - 1961)

Portrait of Chinese scholar and official Lin Zexu.

Lin Zexu

(1785 - 1850)

Portrait of English poet John Keats.

John Keats

(1795 - 1821)

Photograph of American professional baseball player Dock Ellis.

Dock Ellis

(1945 - 2008)

Photograph of American novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler.

Raymond Chandler

(1888 - 1959)

Depiction of chief of the Miami tribe Little Turtle.

Little Turtle

(c. 1752 - 1812)

Rebecca Lemon

Chinese poet Li Bai seated.

Li Bai

(701 - 762)

Photograph of American humorist and author David Sedaris.

David Sedaris

Photograph of American novelist and short story writer Stephen Crane.

Stephen Crane

(1871 - 1900)

Image of Japanese poet Ōtomo Tabito with horse.

Ōtomo Tabito

(665 - 731)

Frontispiece for 1612-13 King James Bible.

The Bible

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 American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac.

Jack Kerouac

(1922 - 1969)

Photograph of American writer Denis Johnson.

Denis Johnson

(1949 - 2017)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Photograph of American writer William T. Vollmann.

William T. Vollmann

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

Frederick Douglass

(c. 1818 - 1895)

Photograph of German literary critic Walter Benjamin.

Walter Benjamin

(1892 - 1940)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Photograph of American writer Francine Prose.

Francine Prose

Kingsley Amis

(1922 - 1995)

Photograph of Irish playwright and novelist Frank O'Connor.

Frank O’Connor

(1903 - 1966)

Depiction of Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam

(1048 - 1131)

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

Sven Birkerts

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Image of American lawyer and autobiographer Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Richard Henry Dana Jr.

(1815 - 1882)

Quintus Curtius Rufus

(c. 41 - c. 79)

Portrait bust of Greek historian Xenophon.

Xenophon

(c. 430 BC - c. 351 BC)

Andy Warhol

(1928 - 1987)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

Depiction of Plymouth colony governor William Bradford.

William Bradford

(1590 - 1657)

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Black and white photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910)

Portrait of Scottish biographer and diarist James Boswell.

James Boswell

(1740 - 1795)

Theognis

(c. 570 BC - c. 490 BC)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

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)

William Biddulph

William Langland

(c. 1325 - c. 1390)

Color portrait of the Italian writer and libertine Giacomo Casanova.

Giacomo Casanova

(1725 - 1798)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Photograph of journalist and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

(1836 - 1870)

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

Honoré de Balzac

(1799 - 1850)

Painted portrait of English poet John Milton.

John Milton

(1608 - 1674)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Photograph of American jazz musician Art Pepper with saxophone.

Art Pepper

(1925 - 1982)

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire

(1821 - 1867)

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

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(1896 - 1940)

Portrait of English lyrical poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772 - 1834)

Photograph of German writer Patrick Süskind.

Patrick Süskind

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

John Addington Symonds

(1840 - 1893)

Photograph of journalist, author, and professor Michael Pollan.

Michael Pollan

Photograph of American feminist and author Anne Roiphe.

Anne Roiphe

Photograph of American author Dennis Covington.

Dennis Covington

German socialist philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Friedrich Engels

(1820 - 1895)

Photograph of Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.

Albert Hofmann

(1906 - 2008)

Portrait of French writer Stendhal.

Stendhal

(1783 - 1842)

Photograph of American author Jacqueline Susann.

Jacqueline Susann

(1921 - 1974)

Photograph of journalist Nick Reding.

Nick Reding

Photograph of British writer Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl

(1916 - 1990)

Photograph of American poet Countee Cullen.

Countee Cullen

(1903 - 1946)

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

Oliver Goldsmith

(1730 - 1774)

Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809 - 1865)

James Joyce

(1882 - 1941)

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

Marguerite Duras

(1914 - 1996)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Portrait bust of Greek lyric poet Archilochus.

Archilochus

(c. 740 BC - 680 BC)

Photograph of literary agent and author Bill Clegg.

Bill Clegg

Photograph of American comedian and film star Harpo Marx.

Harpo Marx

(1888 - 1964)

Portrait of King James I.

James I

(1566 - 1625)

Photograph of American novelist Jack London.

Jack London

(1876 - 1916)

Depiction of Greek lyric poet Sappho.

Sappho

(c. 610 BC - c. 570 BC)

Portrait of English physician John Elliotson.

John Elliotson

(1791 - 1868)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)