Free to Use and Reuse: Writers and Writing
Notable authors in a variety of fields appear in this set along with people who overcame challenges in writing. You'll find connections to novelists, poets, historians, philosophers, reformers, scientists, a mystery writer and a horror fiction king. The National Book Festival web site is a good place to find videos by contemporary authors. Unless otherwise noted, the images here are from the Prints & Photographs Division.
Browse more content that is free to use and reuse.
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Sequoyah holding the syllabary he created for writing the Cherokee language. Portrait print by John T. Bowen, 1838. -
Helen Keller at desk with Braille typewriter. Portrait photo by UPI, 1919. -
Toni Morrison, at her upstate New York home. Portrait photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1980s. -
Letter and corrected reprint of Walt Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain" with comments by author, 9 February 1888. (Manuscript Division) -
Walt Whitman, with a butterfly on his finger. Portrait photo by Phillips & Taylor, 1873. -
James Baldwin. Portrait photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1955. -
Mr. Henry Ludlowe in The Raven, the love story of Edgar Allan Poe. Theater poster by U.S. Lithograph Co., 1908. -
Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel) seated at desk with Cat in the Hat and other books he wrote. Portrait photo by Al Ravenna, 1957. -
Stephen King's house, Bangor, Maine, with bats on the gate. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017. -
Witness for the Prosecution. Poster for a play based on the mystery novel by Agatha Christie, 1954 -
Zora Neale Hurston, beating a drum. Portrait photo by New York World-Telegram & Sun staff, 1937. -
Mark Twain, America's best humorist. Caricature by Joseph Keppler, 1885. -
The life of Omar ben Saeed, called Morro, a Fullah Slave in Fayetteville, N.C., around 1831. (African and Middle Eastern Division) -
Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author/writer, with Arthur Miller at the PEN Congress, New York City. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1986 -
Frederick Douglass. Portrait photo by G.K. Warren, 1876; printed by C.F. Conly, 1880s. -
Memorial for the poet and philosopher Khalil Gibran, Washington, DC. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 1990s. -
Richard Wright, in his study, New York City. Portrait photo by Gordon Parks, 1943. -
Kurt Vonnegut. Portrait photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1965. -
Banned books. Photo by Thomas J. O'Halloran, 1979. -
Emily Dickinson's birthplace and home, called The Homestead, Amherst, Massachusetts. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019. -
Ida B. Wells. Portrait illustration in The Afro-American Press and Its Editors, 1891. (Rare Book & Special Collections Division) -
Langston Hughes. Portrait photo by Gordon Parks, 1943. -
Drafts of Langston Hughes's poem "Ballad of Booker T.," 30 May-1 June 1941. (Manuscript Division) -
Louisa May Alcott. Portrait photo by G.K. Warren, around 1870. -
Ralph Nader. Portrait photo by Warren K. Leffler, 1979. -
Rachel Carson. Portrait in Evening Star, Washington, D.C., 31 March 1963. (Chronicling America) -
Joyce Carol Oates. Portrait photo by Bernard Gotfryd, around 1972. -
Edna St. Vincent Millay. Portrait photo by Arnold Genthe, 1914. -
Dr. Lewis Thomas, bio-chemist, author. Portrait photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1970-1990. -
Nellie Bly. Portrait photo by Myers, 1890. -
The moment of imagination. Cartoon print published by W. George, 1785. -
Ernest Hemingway seated at typewriter. Portrait photo by Lloyd R. Arnold, 1939. -
Leo Tolstoy. Portrait photo, 1897. -
City room of the New York World newspaper. Photo by Bain News Service, early 1900s. -
William Shakespeare. Portrait engraving by Samuel Cousins, 1849 -
Harriet Beecher Stowe. Portrait photo by William R. Howell, around 1870. -
Neil Simon, playwright and screenwriter. Portrait photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1986. -
Andy Warhol (left) and Tennessee Williams (right) talking on the steamship France. Photo by James Kavallines, 1967. -
African American students writing notes during class. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1970s. -
Elementary school children standing and watching teacher write at the blackboard using cursive letters, Washington, D.C. Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1899. -
William Oland Bourne Papers: Left-hand Penmanship contest; Broadsides, 1866-1867. (Manuscript Division) -
Judge David Moylan writing with a pen held in his teeth. Portrait photo by Bain News Service, 1910-1915. -
Frankie writing a letter to his parents while holding the pen between his toes, Prague, Czech Republic. Photo by American Red Cross, 1919. -
Measuring Scale for Handwriting. Chart by Leonard Porter Ayres, 1917. (General Collections)