John Wesley

(1703 - 1791)

Black and white photograph of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud with cigar.

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Sinclair Lewis

(1885 - 1951)

James Orbinski

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Noga Arikha

Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician Moses Maimonides.

Moses Maimonides

(1135 - 1204)

Felix Platter

(1536 - 1614)

American writer William Styron.

William Styron

(1925 - 2006)

English writer Jerome K. Jerome.

Jerome K. Jerome

(1859 - 1927)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Jean-Dominique Bauby

(1952 - 1997)

Quintus Serenus Sammonicus

Andreas Vesalius

(1514 - 1564)

Oil painting portrair Michel de Montaigne in red robes and white collar

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Black and white photograph of John Crowley sitting on a porch.

John Crowley

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

Iain Bamforth

Painting of humanist and scholar Erasmus.

Erasmus

(1466 - 1536)

Louisa May Alcott

(1832 - 1888)

Li Zhisui

(1919 - 1995)

Black and white photograph of British writer Doris Lessing.

Doris Lessing

(1919 - 2013)

Fanny Burney

(1752 - 1840)

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

Surgeon and author Richard Selzer.

Richard Selzer

(1928 - 2016)

Persian philosopher and scientist Avicenna.

Avicenna

(980 - 1037)

Jonathan Lyons

Susan Sontag

(1933 - 2004)

American poet William Carlos Williams.

William Carlos Williams

(1883 - 1963)

Hammurabi

(1810 BC - 1750 BC)

Color photograph of Oliver Sacks with a white beard and glasses.

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

Jacques Ferrand

(c. 1575 - c. 1620)

John Barth

Andrew Blackbird

(c. 1815 - 1908)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Meehan Crist

Meehan Crist

American novelist and short story writer Bernard Cooper.

Bernard Cooper

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Greek physician, writer, and philosopher Galen.

Galen

(129 - c. 216)

Black and white photograph of American writer and critic Anatole Broyard.

Anatole Broyard

(1920 - 1990)

black and white pencil drawing of Moliere in an ornate frame

Molière

(1622 - 1673)

English art historian, novelist and journalist Iain Pears.

Iain Pears

Italian poet and librettist Felice Romani.

Felice Romani

(1788 - 1865)

Founder of the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy George Ohsawa.

George Ohsawa

(1893 - 1966)

Paddy Chayefsky

(1923 - 1981)

Black and white photograph of Alsatian-German winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Albert Schweitzer.

Albert Schweitzer

(1875 - 1965)

Al-Kindi

(c. 801 - c. 870)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Classical bust of Thucydides.

Thucydides

(c. 460 BC - c. 404 BC)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates.

Hippocrates

(c. 460 BC - c. 375 BC)

Mimnermus

(c. 630 BC - c. 600 BC)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

Atul Gawande

Elizabeth Blackwell

(1821 - 1910)

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

photograph of David Foster Wallace speaking at a podium

David Foster Wallace

(1962 - 2008)

American writer and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich

(1941 - 2022)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Photograph of Marcel Proust looking pensive.

Marcel Proust

(1871 - 1922)

Louis Pasteur

(1822 - 1895)

Black and white photograph of scholar, novelist, and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis.

C.S. Lewis

(1898 - 1963)

Soranus

(c. 150 - c. 200)

Dorothea Dix

(1802 - 1887)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Ken Kesey

(1935 - 2001)