John--
You're right, that does make sense. Especially if there might have
been some plaster molds made of his face--that provides a plausible
reason for the shirtlessness. Billy Idol, Sting, and countless
other rockers have no such excuse.
--LH
On Sep 3, 2010, at 8:48 AM, John Bird wrote:
> I think it was taken in 1884. Although Justin Kaplan said it was
> "almost
> surely a joke," I recently ran across a compelling idea I had never
> seen
> before. In a dissertation on Twain and the pictorial, the writer at
> Duke
> (don't have my notes with me to give credit) offers, via his
> dissertation
> director Lou Budd, that the picture was taken as a study for
> Gerhardt's
> bust, which was made in 1884 for the frontispiece of Huck Finn.
> When you
> look at the picture and the bust together, that idea makes perfect
> sense. I
> am convinced that the picture was not a joke, but a musculature
> study for
> Gerhardt's statue.
>
> John Bird
> Winthrop University
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry
> Howe
> Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 9:34 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Picture date?
>
> Forum--
>
> I'm sure someone here knows the date of the famous shirtless Twain
> photo? No prizes, just my gratitude.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --LH
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