Men Of Mark
London / New York: Duckworth & Co. / Mitchell Kennerley, 1913. First Edition. Quarter tan cloth with matching cloth over boards, titling in gilt on the spine. Cover has edge wear, a ding on the rear and early wear through at the corners. 12" x 9.25", [8] 9 - 30, followed by 33 pp. numbered and with facsimile signatures, tipped in photogravure plates on the recto of each page, and tissue guards. 2 tissue guards have a torn corner, one missing and replaced with a laid in guard. The free front endpaper was excised from this book, causing a cut to the left margin of the half title page, now repaired. Three pages have a spot of foxing, but not affecting photos. Fade to end papers from binding adhesive. Gutter weakness between some registers.
As stated on the List of Portraits page, "...were produced under the personal supervision of the artist". Coburn (1882 - 1966) was an early pioneer in pictorialism and abstract photography. He developed relationships with admired men of arts and letters, from which resulted these photographs. Later in life he was consumed with spiritual mysticism and rejected his previous accomplishments as abject. In 1930 he destroyed almost his entire life's work of glass plates and negatives. Good +. Item #3007
"The chronicle of this gathering of portraits of eminent men is so involved with my life for the past nine years that it will, I fear, be impossible for me to write about them without being autobiographical." (Coburn - p 9).
Price: $1,250.00