[EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY] Mark Twain CDV

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The Jim Crain Collection: Texas, California &...

By Fleischer's Auctions

Nov 20, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-11-20 09:00:00 2026-11-20 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Jim Crain Collection: Texas, California & the Old West https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/the-jim-crain-collection-texas-california-the-old-west-23552
The lifetime collection of author and photo historian, Jim Crain (1939-2025). The catalog is exclusively devoted to antique photography with an emphasis on the Old West, California, Texas, and Native Americana from 1840-1900. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com

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• Lot Description

  Half-length studio bust portrait of Mark Twain. Albumen CDV. New York: J. Gurney & Son, [ca. 1867-1873]. Photographer's imprint printed to lower mount recto. Photographer's imprint printed to mount verso. Period pencil inscription to mount verso reads "Mark Twain / Samuel L Clemens / is [taxed] in Hartford / on H66,677."

   

  A classic early albumen portrait of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), known by the nom de plume Mark Twain. Captured during the vital period following the publication of his novels The Innocents Abroad (1869) and Roughing It (1872), Twain is shown in a three-quarter profile gaze, sporting his signature heavy mustache. He is dressed in a formal evening coat with velvet-faced lapels, white waistcoat, and a dark bow tie with a dangling cord. 

   

  Jeremiah Gurney (1812-1895) and his son Benjamin Gurney (1833-1899) operated one of the most prestigious high-society portrait studios in nineteenth-century New York City. Operating from their lavish Fifth Avenue gallery at the corner of 16th Street, the Gurneys photographed prominent statesmen, stage actors, and literary luminaries of the post-Civil War era. This sitting represents one of the definitive early canonical likenesses of Twain as he solidified his transition from upstart humorist to America's preeminent author and lecturer.

   

  [Literature, American Authors, Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, Humorists, Hartford Connecticut, 19th Century Literature, Gilded Age] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Carte-de-Visite, CDV, Albumen Photographs, Jeremiah Gurney, J. Gurney & Son, New York City Photographers]

  Condition

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  Minimal wear to print, which retains excellent clarity and tone. The mount was lightly trimmed to fit an album, a common practice of the era. 

• Provenance

  Jim Crain Collection. 

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