Men of Mark
Coburn, Alvin Langdon
London / New York. Duckworth & Co. / Mitchell Kennerley. 1913
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First edition of Coburn's first book of portraits of the great and good.
Coburn's book (it was followed some years later by More Men of Mark) features 33 portraits of artists, thinkers and writers such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Henry James, Rodin, Henri Matisse, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Frank Brangwyn, William Butler Yeats, Robert Bridges and so on. Coburn's introductory text provides a running commentary on his pursuit of his subjects and their eventual capture on film.
'To make satisfactory photographs of persons it is necessary for me to like them, to admire them, or at least to be interested in them. It is rather curious and difficult to exactly explain, but if I dislike my subject it is sure to come out in the resulting portrait ... I had thought of using 'Men of Genius' as the title for this book, but Arnold Bennett objected seriously, saying, very modestly, that he did not consider himself a man of genius, but merely a working author, and absolutely refusing to join the throng unless I changed it, so I told him that if he would give me a better one I would use it. 'Men of Mark' is his alternative ... ' From Coburn's introduction.
Coburn's book (it was followed some years later by More Men of Mark) features 33 portraits of artists, thinkers and writers such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Henry James, Rodin, Henri Matisse, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Frank Brangwyn, William Butler Yeats, Robert Bridges and so on. Coburn's introductory text provides a running commentary on his pursuit of his subjects and their eventual capture on film.
'To make satisfactory photographs of persons it is necessary for me to like them, to admire them, or at least to be interested in them. It is rather curious and difficult to exactly explain, but if I dislike my subject it is sure to come out in the resulting portrait ... I had thought of using 'Men of Genius' as the title for this book, but Arnold Bennett objected seriously, saying, very modestly, that he did not consider himself a man of genius, but merely a working author, and absolutely refusing to join the throng unless I changed it, so I told him that if he would give me a better one I would use it. 'Men of Mark' is his alternative ... ' From Coburn's introduction.
4to. Half-title, title, dedication leaf, list of plates, introduction by Coburn and 33 tiped-in monochrome photogravure plates, each with sitter's facsimile signature and guardleaf. Original publisher's linen-backed grey cloth boards with gilt title.
#33230
