Black and white photograph of a young H.G. Wells with a mustache.

H.G. Wells

(1866 - 1946)

André Le Chapelain

(1174 - 1238)

Bishop, polemicist, and historian Eusebius.

Eusebius

(c. 260 - c. 339)

Portrait of Francis Bacon in sixteenth-century armor.

Francis Bacon

(1561 - 1626)

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

Michel de Montaigne

(1533 - 1592)

Political consultant and media advisor Mandy Grunwald.

Mandy Grunwald

Engraving of a bearded man seated with a crutch and writing at a desk

Epictetus

(c. 55 - c. 135)

Joan Didion

(1934 - 2021)

Color portrait of German theologian and reformer Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

(1483 - 1546)

American feminist, activist, and editor Gloria Steinem.

Gloria Steinem

Photograph of British writer and journalist Simon Winchester.

Simon Winchester

Italian Franciscan friar and historian Salimbene Di Adam.

Salimbene di Adam

(1221 - c. 1290)

Polish American writer and academic Eva Hoffman.

Eva Hoffman

Black and white photograph of a young Marshall McLuhan with a think mustache.

Marshall McLuhan

(1911 - 1980)

Engraving of Roman poet Horace.

Horace

(65 BC - 8 BC)

German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht

(1898 - 1956)

Arthur Koestler

(1905 - 1983)

French man of letters Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot

(1713 - 1784)

American newspaper commentator and author Walter Lippmann.

Walter Lippmann

(1889 - 1974)

St. Benedict

Saint Benedict

(c. 480 - c. 547)

Photograph of Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

(1899 - 1986)

Belgian Symbolist poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck.

Maurice Maeterlinck

(1862 - 1949)

Painting of Benjamin Franklin reading a batch of papers next to a classical bust.

Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

German Nazi leader Martin Bormann.

Martin Bormann

(1900 - 1945)

Soldier and writer Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon.

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon

(1675 - 1755)

American novelist Tim O’Brien.

Tim O’Brien

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

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Engraving of a bust of Lucretius.

Lucretius

(c. 95 BC - c. 50 BC)

British writer Bruce Chatwin.

Bruce Chatwin

(1940 - 1989)

English writer and essayist William Hazlitt.

William Hazlitt

(1778 - 1830)

Exiled South African writer Breyten Breytenbach.

Breyten Breytenbach

Black and white image of Greek biographer and writer Plutarch.

Plutarch

(46 - c. 120)

Apollinaris the Younger

(c. 310 - c. 390)

Fourth President of the United States James Madison.

James Madison

(1751 - 1836)

Sepia toned photograph of Lewis Carroll in a suit, reading a book

Lewis Carroll

(1832 - 1898)

Historian and novelist Philipp Blom.

Philipp Blom

Portrait bust of Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

Aeschylus

(c. 525 BC - 456 BC)

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

Oliver Sacks

(1933 - 2015)

American novelist Madeline Miller.

Madeline Miller

Toni Morrison

(1931 - 2019)

Lewis Lapham at his desk

Lewis H. Lapham

Russian author Viktor Pelevin.

Viktor Pelevin

American author Gay Talese.

Gay Talese

American writer, computer scientist, and composer Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

(1842 - c. 1914)

Black and white photograph of American author Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton

(1862 - 1937)

American poet, journalist, and essayist Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman

(1819 - 1892)

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder.

Aldus Manutius the Elder

(1449 - 1515)

Image of medieval traveler Sir John Mandeville.

John Mandeville

(c. 1300 - 1371)

Portrait of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(1792 - 1822)

Portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881)

Depiction of Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato

(c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

Black power leader H. Rap Brown.

H. Rap Brown

Cherokee leader and newspaper editor Elias Boudinot.

Elias Boudinot

(c. 1803 - 1839)

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

(c. 1705 - 1775)

Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC - 43 BC)

Black and white photo of Lenny Bruce being frisked by an officer

Lenny Bruce

(1925 - 1966)

American author and educator Helen Keller.

Helen Keller

(1880 - 1968)

Chinese statesman Li Si.

Li Si

(c. 280 BC - c. 208 BC)

William Lightfoot Visscher

(1842 - 1924)

American black militant Eldridge Cleaver.

Eldridge Cleaver

(1935 - 1998)

Pope Clement V.

Pope Clement V

(c. 1260 - 1314)

English novelist, essayist, and critic George Orwell.

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950)

Greek geographer and historian Strabo.

Strabo

(c. 64 BC - c. 25)

American linguist Arika Okrent.

Arika Okrent

Photograph of American literary critic George Steiner.

George Steiner

(1929 - 2020)

Painting of François Rabelais.

François Rabelais

(1494 - 1553)

Portrait of young Arthur Schopenhauer wearing a brown suit and a cravat.

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 - 1860)

Flann O'Brien in an overcoat standing next to a Dublin Diversion sign

Flann O’Brien

(1911 - 1966)

Color engraving of Italian poet, scholar, and humanist Petrarch.

Petrarch

(1304 - 1374)

John Cheever

(1912 - 1982)

Photograph of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

(1899 - 1977)

Scottish born doctor and writer Alexander Hamilton.

Dr. Alexander Hamilton

(1712 - 1756)

Black and white photograph of German writer Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse

(1877 - 1962)

Former chairman of the FCC Newton Minow.

Newton Minow

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

Black and white photograph of E. B. White sitting at his typewriter with his dachshund.

E.B. White

(1899 - 1985)

American writer Nicholson Baker.

Nicholson Baker

Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Dorothy Parker

(1893 - 1967)

Black and white photograph of American poet Marianne Moore.

Marianne Moore

(1887 - 1972)

Portrait of Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)

Japanese diarist and poet Sei Shōnagon.

Sei Shonagon

(c. 966 - c. 1025)

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

Linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and editor Ben Zimmer.

Ben Zimmer

Black and white photograph of Friedrich Nietzsche with a huge mustache.

Friedrich Nietzsche

(1844 - 1900)