Bronx-born Glenn Ligon ranks as one of America’s more literary artists. A one-time proof reader for a law firm, whose mother once told him, “The only artists I’ve ever heard of are dead,” he made his way as an artist by working nights and weekends, and today finds a home in permanent collections from London’s Tate Modern and the Pompidou Center in Paris, to MoMA, the Guggenheim, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Below are Glenn Ligon’s favorite books, available to purchase as a set or individually.