John--Very interesting speculation. The photo is a lot different from the bust, but it seems possible--provided the dates are right. Usually the photo is said to have been taken when Twain was fifty, which would be 1885-86; but I have no direct information on that. --Jim L. -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Bird Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 9:49 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Picture date? 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