Coburn Collection

Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966) was an innovative American-born photographer who worked in Britain. He pioneered the vortograph, an abstract work produced using mirrors in a vortoscope. His portrait photographs were published in two works, Men of Mark (1913) and More Men of Mark (1922).

Read more about Coburn photographs 1912 to 1923.

Library Collection

Call number – COBURN COLLECTION

Date – 1900s to date

Extent – 16 books illustrated by Coburn

More information

• The collection consists of, mostly presented by Coburn himself, plus ephemera concerning his life and career. Further material includes a portrait of Coburn by Max Weber.
• Read the Featured Item article on A. L. Coburn and E. O Hoppé’s Photographs of artists (1912-1923) from this collection.
• The collection is searchable via the catalogue.

Archive Collection

Reference – MS 5683         Date – c. 1913          Extent – 1 folder

More information

• Possible original images by Alvin Langdon Coburn from his Men of Mark series including: Mark Twain; Ezra Pound (copy); W B Yeats; George Moore; G K Chesterton; George Bernard Shaw; Thomas Hardy (2 images copies); H G Wells; Robert Bridges; Arthur Symons; William Orpen; Max Beerbolm; Joseph Conrad (copy); Henry James (copy); Gertrude Stein (copy).
• A description is available on our online database