a couple thoughts: Twain did own a very fine 1835 Martin guitar (purchased used around 1861), and did play it, and owned it till his death in 1910; it was recently valued at $15 million ! ! ! I cannot recall any eyewitness testimony of him doing so in public (I may be wrong about that, though). Still, there is this little article available at Acoustic Guitar magazine claiming the following: He sang and played for newspaper men of the Nevada Territories, miners from California's Gold Rush days and for passengers aboard Ajax, a clipper ship bound for the Hawaiian Islands. But mostly he played for the willing women of the West. In December 1866, Mark Twain brought his Martin 2 ½-17 guitar aboard the steamer America and sailed from San Francisco to New York City, where he would seek his fortune. On the other hand, there is a fair amount of firsthand testimony of him singing accapella, or singing as he played piano, in public at parties and such, often in his home. Joe Twichell, for one, describes Twain's evocative singing several times in his Journals; often it was Twain singing old hymns or things of that nature. He also famously sang to his dying wife in Italy. Below is a photo of Mark sporting his vintage Fender, which he purchased after listening to early Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck recordings: -- Prof. Harold K. Bush Professor of English 3800 Lindell Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>