American abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs.

Harriet Jacobs

(1813 - 1897)

Seated man with a large white beard wearing a dark suit

Karl Marx

(1818 - 1883)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Portrait bust of Roman poet Virgil.

Virgil

(70 BC - 19 BC)

Black and white image of English scholar, writer, and clergyman Robert Burton.

Robert Burton

(1577 - 1640)

French art historian and member of the French Resistance Agnès Humbert.

Agnès Humbert

(1894 - 1963)

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

color oil painting of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a red tunic with gray hair

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756 - 1791)

Russian author Anton Chekhov.

Anton Chekhov

(1860 - 1904)

Black and white photograph of English poet and librarian Philip Larkin.

Philip Larkin

(1922 - 1985)

American writer and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich

(1941 - 2022)

American novelist and short story writer Richard Yates.

Richard Yates

(1926 - 1992)

English author Robert Southey.

Robert Southey

(1774 - 1843)

Bust of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

(121 - 180)

American playwright and author David Mamet.

David Mamet

British author Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

(1797 - 1851)

Photograph of African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

(1902 - 1967)

Engraving of Scottish economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

(1723 - 1790)

Usama Ibn Munqidh

(1095 - 1188)

German philosopher and music critic Theodor Adorno.

Theodor Adorno

(1903 - 1969)

Ōyama Shirō

Irish writer George Moore.

George Moore

(1852 - 1933)

Professor of critical theory and cultural history Ben Kafka.

Ben Kafka

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

British writer Bernard Mandeville.

Bernard Mandeville

(1670 - 1733)

English cook and author Isabella Mary Beeton.

Isabella Mary Beeton

(1836 - 1865)

American documentary filmmaker and writer Eleanor Coppola.

Eleanor Coppola

English writer Geoffrey Chaucer.

Geoffrey Chaucer

(c. 1342 - 1400)

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

Mark Twain

(1835 - 1910)

Photo of stone Aristotle statue face

Aristotle

(384 BC - 322 BC)

American poet Theodore Roethke.

Theodore Roethke

(1908 - 1963)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Edwin Lefèvre

(1871 - 1943)

American author Steven Millhauser.

Steven Millhauser

Portrait of West African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano.

Olaudah Equiano

(c. 1745 - 1797)

Norman Maclean

(1902 - 1990)

German writer, composer, and painter E. T. A. Hoffmann.

E.T.A. Hoffmann

(1776 - 1822)

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Louis C.K.

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Color image of English novelist Charlotte Brontë with book in hand.

Charlotte Brontë

(1816 - 1855)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

French theologian John Calvin.

John Calvin

(1509 - 1564)

Image of Japanese poet and essayist Yoshida Kenko.

Yoshida Kenko

(c. 1283 - c. 1351)

American author, essayist, and editor Donovan Hohn.

Donovan Hohn

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852)

Swiss writer, philosopher, and television presenter Alain de Botton.

Alain de Botton

American journalist Susan Orlean.

Susan Orlean

Bust of Hesiod

Hesiod

American animator, writer, and director Mike Judge.

Mike Judge

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

Chinese-American journalist Leslie T. Chang.

Leslie T. Chang

American poet Robert Frost.

Robert Frost

(1874 - 1963)

Freelance writer and former academic ghostwriter Dave Tomar.

Dave Tomar

Roman playwright Terence.

Terence

(c. 195 BC - c. 159 BC)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

American author Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe

(1931 - 2018)

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

Sven Birkerts

American singer and songwriter Woody Guthrie.

Woody Guthrie

(1912 - 1967)

Polish-born French physicist Marie Curie.

Marie Curie

(1867 - 1934)

Black and white image of American writer Herman Melville.

Herman Melville

(1819 - 1891)

Black and white photograph of American novelist John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck

(1902 - 1968)

British philosopher, logician, and social critic Bertrand Russell.

Bertrand Russell

(1872 - 1970)

Photograph of American writer Ralph Ellison.

Ralph Ellison

(1914 - 1994)

Photograph of Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Veblen

(1857 - 1929)

Portrait bust of presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer.

Homer

(c. 800 BC - 725 BC)

French author Émile Zola.

Émile Zola

(1840 - 1902)

Italian literary critic and novelist Umberto Eco.

Umberto Eco

(1932 - 2016)

American writer Lydia Davis.

Lydia Davis

Painted portrait of Florentine statesman and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

(1469 - 1527)

Portrait of Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi

(c. 369 BC - 286 BC)

Engraving of Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder

(23 - 79)

American writer Theodore Dreiser.

Theodore Dreiser

(1871 - 1945)

American writer Philip Connors.

Philip Connors

American musician Charles Mingus.

Charles Mingus

(1922 - 1979)