Susan Sontag

(1933 - 2004)

Hammurabi

(1810 BC - 1750 BC)

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

Albert Schweitzer

(1875 - 1965)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Meehan Crist

Meehan Crist

Black and white photograph of British writer Doris Lessing.

Doris Lessing

(1919 - 2013)

American poet William Carlos Williams.

William Carlos Williams

(1883 - 1963)

Jacques Ferrand

(c. 1575 - c. 1620)

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

C.S. Lewis

(1898 - 1963)

Jonathan Lyons

Surgeon and author Richard Selzer.

Richard Selzer

(1928 - 2016)

Photograph of English poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

Rudyard Kipling

(1865 - 1936)

Soranus

(c. 150 - c. 200)

English art historian, novelist and journalist Iain Pears.

Iain Pears

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

(1935 - 2024)

Photograph of American clinical psychologist and writer Kay Redfield Jamison.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Atul Gawande

American novelist and short story writer Bernard Cooper.

Bernard Cooper

Painting of humanist and scholar Erasmus.

Erasmus

(1466 - 1536)

Daniel Defoe

(1660 - 1731)

Depiction of German abbess and mystic St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen

(1098 - 1179)

John Barth

Color portrait of English poet John Donne.

John Donne

(1572 - 1631)

photograph of David Foster Wallace speaking at a podium

David Foster Wallace

(1962 - 2008)

Portrait of English essayist and critic Thomas De Quincey.

Thomas De Quincey

(1785 - 1859)

Elizabeth Blackwell

(1821 - 1910)

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

Sigmund Freud

(1856 - 1949)

Noga Arikha

Li Zhisui

(1919 - 1995)

Classical bust of Thucydides.

Thucydides

(c. 460 BC - c. 404 BC)

Sinclair Lewis

(1885 - 1951)

Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates.

Hippocrates

(c. 460 BC - c. 375 BC)

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

Anatole Broyard

(1920 - 1990)

Jean-Dominique Bauby

(1952 - 1997)

James Orbinski

Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician Moses Maimonides.

Moses Maimonides

(1135 - 1204)

English writer Jerome K. Jerome.

Jerome K. Jerome

(1859 - 1927)

black and white pencil drawing of Moliere in an ornate frame

Molière

(1622 - 1673)

Italian poet and librettist Felice Romani.

Felice Romani

(1788 - 1865)

Louis Pasteur

(1822 - 1895)

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Mikhail Bulgakov

(1891 - 1940)

Ken Kesey

(1935 - 2001)

Al-Kindi

(c. 801 - c. 870)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

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

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

American writer and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich

(1941 - 2022)

American writer William Styron.

William Styron

(1925 - 2006)

Felix Platter

(1536 - 1614)

Iain Bamforth

Persian philosopher and scientist Avicenna.

Avicenna

(980 - 1037)

Mimnermus

(c. 630 BC - c. 600 BC)

Fanny Burney

(1752 - 1840)

Andrew Blackbird

(c. 1815 - 1908)

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

Seneca the Younger

(4 BC - 65)

Greek physician, writer, and philosopher Galen.

Galen

(129 - c. 216)

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Bai Juyi

(772 - 846)

Dorothea Dix

(1802 - 1887)

Black and white photograph of English writer Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf

(1882 - 1941)

Founder of the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy George Ohsawa.

George Ohsawa

(1893 - 1966)

Paddy Chayefsky

(1923 - 1981)

Andreas Vesalius

(1514 - 1564)

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

John Crowley

Quintus Serenus Sammonicus

Louisa May Alcott

(1832 - 1888)

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

Emily Dickinson

(1830 - 1886)

John Wesley

(1703 - 1791)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Photograph of Marcel Proust looking pensive.

Marcel Proust

(1871 - 1922)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)