I completely disagree about conflicting eye color evidence. You have a photograph depicting apparent blue. My eye color is hazel. But depending upon the weather, sky and landscape tone, and clothing color, they reflect gray, blue or green. And I have had more than one audience member comment about my blue eyes. 

Also, I would say that Twain’s own comment about his “auburn” hair (although I do not recall where I read the remark) is a more credible source than commentary by any less involved observer. 

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> On Jul 9, 2019, at 1:02 PM, Mac Donnell Rare Books <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> The evidence is in conflict on the matter of Twain's hair color.  W D Howells, who met Twain in 1869 had this to say about his hair color ca. 1885 when Twain was 50 (My Mark Twain p. 29):
> 
> "Clemens was then hard upon fifty, and he had kept, as he did to the end, the slender figure of his youth, but the
> ashes of the burnt-out years were beginning to gray the fires of that splendid shock of red hair."
> 
> There is no conflicting evidence about the color of his eyes. They were blue. Not hazel, or blue-green, but very blue. I have an unpublished color photo (autochrome) of Twain taken on December 13, 1908 that clearly shows his blue eyes, the yellow cast on his mustache (caused by smoking), and his pink cheeks.
> 
> Kevin
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